Oops, Wrong High School
by CrazedAuthor17
Summary: Tests, pranks, crushes, and the dreaded homework. All are qualities of a high school, but Hazel, Tyler, Brooke, and Kathrine get more than they bargained for when their ship crashes off the coast of Harmonica Town. Apparently, they broke a lighthouse and now have to work on a farm to repay the town. However, high school's full of surprises. Who knows what adventures await them?
1. Every Adventure Starts With a Bang

**Yes, another new story. I was having trouble with my other story when I accidentally started this one. The beginning's better, so I decided to give it a try. It's about how four friends unintentionally crash their ship and destroy a lighthouse on Castanet. They're forced to work on a farm to pay for the damage as they attend the high school there, but they come across some bumps on the way. **

**The character's are loosely based off of a few of my friends and me. Try to guess which one is me (P.S. I'm a girl). **

**Rated T for Teen because of some bad language later on. **

* * *

Their day started as expected. The four of them- Hazel, Tyler, Brooke, and Kathrine- were sailing off to begin a new life, away from their pleasantly familiar America and into the unknown country of Japan. The travel time was estimated to be about three days and already a day had passed.

A flurry of emotions, from excitement to anxiety, bounced around in each of the passenger's minds. Who gets a chance to go to Japan when they're only seventeen? Almost no one and the four were looking at the adventure of a lifetime.

But how where they supposed to know that their "adventure" was going to take a wild turn before they even docked?

They weren't. That's what makes an adventure an adventure.

However, this was not just any group of people. These teenagers do practically everything together. Based on their attitudes, the four should have been at each other's throats a long time ago. Yet, there was no other team of people that these four trusted more than each other. Perhaps I should explain more about them.

Hazel is the eldest by seventy seconds. She has dirty blonde hair that reaches her waist, as well as, her name sake, hazel eyes. Hazel likes wearing short skirts and brightly colored blouses, but her personality makes her come off like a tomboy more than anything. The girl acts tough and will pick a fight with a guy just as easily as she would with a girl. She joined the wrestling team her freshman year, and the coach seriously considered her for the boy's team. Bottom line, Hazel is a stubborn chick. Pulling pranks and causing trouble are her favorite things to do.

Tyler is the next eldest and Hazel's fraternal twin. He has messy, platinum blond hair and light blue eyes. (There is actually an inside joke about Tyler being the prettier of the two "sisters".) He wears collared shirts with a matching tie, and Bermuda shorts. Tyler's personality, as well, is quite strange for a boy, for he seems to be more of a girl than a guy. He's not gay by any means, but Tyler does enjoy shopping, singing, and clothes designing. Yes, clothes designing; this boy is the bomb at drawing, and one of his preferred things to draw is clothes.

Next up is Brooke. Brooke has shoulder length red hair and iridescent green irises. Of the four, she is the sweetest, shyest, and biggest push over. It is easy to break her self-esteem and she doesn't get mad, just weepy. However, Brooke will stick with her friends against all odds. She dresses in long sleeve shirts and skirts with leggings, every piece of clothing the same color, but of a different shade. Despite her gawky appearance, Brooke is actually very athletic and loves to run, jump, and play soccer. If there's one thing she's confident about, it's her coordination on her feet.

Last, but not least, Kathrine as the very youngest. Kathrine has short, wavy brown hair cut just below the ears, and deep, chocolate brown eyes. She typically wears sweater vests and jeans like any other nerdy person. Kat even has a pair of square, black rimmed glasses. To coincide with her exterior look, Kathrine is very sophisticated and studious. She was raised to be a polite young lady and will almost always stick to her manners. Along with reading, Kathrine's hobby is writing. If you went through her suitcase, you'd find about a hundred journals with poems, stories, and essays alike, as well as her personal diary (don't touch).

I know that most people would agree that any group like this would surely be a time bomb once their differences drove them apart enough. Well, you kids are unaware of the fact that these four have been best friends since 7th grade! And now, they plan to finish their senior year in a small city in Japan.

Wait, wait; why are they ending their high school years in Japan without all their friends you might ask?

It's simple: Hazel and Tyler's parents are filthy rich- the kind of rich that doesn't throw their weight around, though it is hard to find- and they wanted the twins to learn how to live on their own by throwing them out into the wild. Japan was about as far as you could go, so they chose that place.

Then there was the process of planning the event. Luckily, the mother was an engineer and one of her clients in Japan set up the whole thing to repay a favor.

However, since it was their senior year, Hazel and Tyler's parent agreed to let them pick two friends to come along. Of course, their first and only choices were Kathrine and Brooke.

Once the two girls got permission from their parents and guardians, the team was off. A whole new world set in front of them, just a few more days away.

Unfortunately for them, something, or someone, decided to throw a wrench in the plan. And it started the night of the second day.

* * *

As you can imagine, like I said, nerves were running high and all four of the friends were ridden of sleep, so each of them were above deck. The sky was filled with stars and the moon was waxing. Since it was only the beginning of spring, a chilly wind blew.

Hazel, Brooke, Tyler, and Kathrine were discussing the things they planned on doing once they reached Japan.

"Well, I don't know about you guys, but the first thing I am going to do is see the school," Kathrine explained. "Maybe even find a few libraries around the area."

Tyler laughed. "You and your books, Kat. What I'm going to do is set up my room, so that it looks as fabulous as moi! Though, it'll be hard to compare it to my beauty."

Tyler made a dramatic flare of his hand. Kathrine rolled her eyes, but still gave a small smile.

"I'm so nervous, but so excited at the same time!" Brooke squealed. "I'll probably go running around the neighborhood, so I can learn about the region. I hope the people are nice."

She was clenching Kathrine's arm. Her grip looked quite tight and painful, but Kathrine didn't say anything. Everyone knew that Brooke was nervous about more than one thing and they couldn't blame her, so each of them kept quiet.

Hazel produced a wild smile. "All of your plans are lame!" she practically shouted. "The first thing I'm gonna do is meet the future Mr. Hazel! Who knows how many cute Japanese guys there are there?"

This time, Kathrine did giggle.

Hazel leered at her. "What's so funny that the queen of nerds actually laughs?"

Kathrine stopped laughing and straightened, like she was going to school Hazel.

"Well, first off, your future husband isn't going to be called 'Mr. Hazel'. You'd take his name. Second, I don't think the boys wou- WHOA!"

Before Kathrine could finish her lecture, a deafening boom came from below deck. The ship swayed violently back and forth. Large waves crashed against the sides, soaking the group head to toe. Like it was hell on Earth (something most of them were thinking at that moment), fire appeared around the left side of the ship.

There was only one thing they had to say.

"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!"

Hazel scampered to the end of the ship. Her face turned chalk white.

"The engines have blown! Based on the size and power of the explosion, I'd say there was some sort of blockage!"

The groans of the ship and roaring of waves made Hazel barely audible, but even if they heard her, no one would question how she knew that. You learn things when your mom's a mechanical engineer.

At this point, no one care about surviving Japan. They were more concerned about surviving this ship. Except, none of them knew what to do!

As always, Kathrine was the one who tried to remain calm.

"Okay! Everyone move to the right of the ship. We need to avoid the flames. Then, the captain will come up and tell us what to do."

Her voice was trembling. You'd be hard pressed to find someone who could sound fearless in this situation. In spite of her lip quivering, she put on her brave face.

"Come on guys! Go to the right!"

Kat grabbed Tyler and Brooke and just about threw them over to the side. Hazel quickly followed. The idea was logical. If the group waited for the captain, he would surely know how to fix the situation.

Unfortunately, things went wrong when the second blast occurred.

The whole ship swung sideways, sending the four teenagers flying over open waters. A flash of blue and the friends splashed hard into the unforgiving surf.

The waves had become as tall as skyscrapers and they tried to push each the four lower into the deep sea. But Tyler, Hazel, and Kathrine would have none of it.

Tyler's head was first to break the surface, followed by Hazel and Kathrine. Terrified, Tyler yelled for his sister since it was too dark to see anything anymore. The moon had been blocked out by all the smoke from the ship.

Hazel called back and hastily swam to the sound of his voice. Even though Hazel was the bravest of the bunch, every fiber in her body shook from fear as well as from being cold. The temperature outside was freezing as it was, but the water had dropped at least ten degrees compared to the air.

Kathrine remained where she was, searching for Brooke. Her words sounded cracked, as if she was close to tears. Kathrine never seemed this vulnerable.

Finally, Brooke's head popped out of the water. She was screaming and thrashing around, coughing as sea water filled her lungs. You would have thought she was being attacked from the way she was reacting.

Water. Water was Brooke's greatest fear. That's why she was in no way at ease on the boat. Only several feet of metal kept her from a watery grave. She was so scared of being near the liquid that she never learned swim as well. Now, Brooke was trapped in the middle of the ocean.

Kathrine, the best swimmer and Brooke's first friend, paddled frantically towards her. Luckily, Brooke's screams made it easy to find her.

However, even when Kathrine had at last reached her, Brooke continued to struggle. Her friend tried to calm her down by holding her securely and speaking to her, but stopped abruptly. Though no one could see, Kat cringed. Brooke must have kicked her or something. Despite this, Kathrine hugged her friend even tighter, perhaps to assure herself that she wasn't alone in this nightmare.

Tyler's eyes darted around the sea, desperately searching for help. He spotted an island just ahead of them. Seeing as the flaming death trap once known as their ship couldn't help them, Tyler decided the island was their best bet.

"Everyone," the boy instructed, "Swim away from the boat!"

Hazel looked at him like he was crazy. "Are you stupid?! Those are the only people who can help us!"

Suddenly, a third blast was heard from the boat. It groaned in defeat as the tip slowly raised forward.

"Well, the ship can't help us now. It's sinking!" Kathrine shouted.

To prove her statement, water rushed into the holes of the boat, making a thunderous roaring sound. The end began to disappear under the ocean. It was like a miniature titanic, only with the same amount of horror.

And as if they hadn't suffered enough, the biggest wave the four had every seen- and these kids are from California- was barreling towards them. Within a few terror filled moments, the wave crashed into them as they all screamed for help.

Tyler, Hazel, Kathrine, and Brooke were brought back under the water, currents twirling each of them, debris flying around, until the wave finally passed.

Kathrine opened her eyes, which stung from the amount of salt water they had just received. What she saw were Tyler, Hazel, and Brooke, floating quietly on the water, unconscious. The wreckage must have knocked them out. Fortunately, the ocean allowed things to become more buoyant, so as long as they stayed still, the three would be fine.

It appeared as if Kat was hit on the head too, as she felt tired and had to fight to remain awake. She was fighting a lost cause, though. Dark spots were hindering her vision.

The last thing Kathrine saw was a dark figure far across the ocean, next to the boat, drifting away on a life raft. The person turned its head towards her.

"Come back," Kathrine whispered weakly, reaching out her hand.

At that moment, she lost the battle she could fight no longer. Darkness surrounded Kathrine.

* * *

_Splash! Splash!_

"_Is that… waves?" _Hazel thought.

With difficulty, she raised her head and opened her eyes. Her eye sight was fuzzy, as if she was still seeing things from under water. Everything was a big smug to her.

What Hazel did see, though, was white sand all around her. There was a path of concrete leading up to what looked like a town of some sort. Next to her was a small cluster of… rocks?

No, rocks don't have fiery red hair.

"_Brooke!" _Hazel tried to say.

However, when she attempted to use her voice, no words came out. Instead, a quiet croaking noise came from her gullet. Hazel realized that her throat felt like she had been gargling sand for two weeks.

Even if she did want to get to Brooke, though, Hazel could hardly move and she still felt like passing out again. But that wasn't going to stop her from trying.

In her endeavor to get up, the stubborn girl noticed another lump on the sand, as well as a third to her left. The first wore a light blue sweater vest and had chestnut colored hair. _Kathrine._ The second had a purple shirt and blond hair that almost matched the beach. _Tyler. _

A wave (pun intended) of relief washed over her.

"_They're all still alive. Thank god they didn't die from… from… why can't I remember what happened?!" _Hazel questioned.

Her thoughts were cut short, however, by a masculine voice in front of her. Someone was calling for help.

Hazel managed to raise her head just a little more to see the figure. He- she was assuming it was a "he"- had a black shirt and dark red hair. Not like Brooke's red hair that was more of an orange, but real red hair.

Because of Hazel's still blurry eye sight, she couldn't make out anything else. The figure had rushed towards her and was now looming over her head.

The red head reached down and took Hazel's hand to pull her up, but pain shot through Hazel's head. She staggered onto her feet, but the sting and exhaustion from what this girl had experienced became too much.

Hazel passed out, just as Kathrine did, only she was staring at the mysterious boy who came to aid her. Hazel's vision returned to normal for just a second. She saw the handsome face of a buff young boy with spiky red hair. He had a concern expression, but put on a cheery smile when he noticed she was looking up at him.

Hazel started to wonder if the explosion was really such a bad thing.

* * *

**I'm going to post the parings in a later chapter. **

**How did I do? Please leave a comment. Thanks!  
**


	2. The Lighthouse At the End Of the Tunnel

**Yeah! Second chapter. Not a whole lot happens here, but it's really important, so stick with me.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon in any way, shape, or form. Thank you.  
**

* * *

Hazel had no idea how long she had slept. A day? Two days? It felt like weeks.

When she finally came to, Hazel was in a large white room that consisted of beds on wheels, green curtains, and that annoying poster that reads: "Hang in There". There was a neutral atmosphere, as if there had been ample happiness here, but also ample sadness. The air was filled with the relaxing scent of jasmine.

Either Hazel was in a group therapy session or the hospital, both of which she was all too familiar with.

Gazing down, Hazel realized that she was laying on one of the white beds. Her sheets were tussled, making it obvious that she had been unconscious for awhile. Scraps, bumps, and bruises were present all around her arms and face. However, Hazel felt fresh, like she had recently bathed. As confusion set in, the girl heard a familiar voice.

"Well, it looks like Sleeping Beauty is finally awake."

Hazel twirled around to meet the face of her all-too-perky brother. Tyler was wearing his most dazzling smile that usually had the girls squealing all over him, but for his twin, it only caused annoyance. Hazel's brother scrutinized her face and chuckled.

"You always seem to get beat up, don't you sister dear? You're beat up by bullies, wrestlers, football players; the list goes on."

"Whatever, Tyler," Hazel sighed.

Her brother only smiled more. "You don't remember what happened, do you?"

Tyler's tone and constant smirk always seemed to set off Hazel. Add that with her puzzlement, and you get one pissed chick.

"What do you mean by that?! Of course I don't remember… what are you wearing?"

At this point, Hazel noticed how anti-colorful Tyler was. He usually wore bright shirts in purple, blue, pink, or green, but now, he was dressed in a white shirt with white pants. When Hazel removed the covers from her bed and examined her clothes, she was wearing the same thing. The girl stared at her legs as if they had just grown scales.

"They're better than wet garments."

Hazel's head shot up. The voice came from behind Tyler. It was Kathrine's. Hazel at last noticed that Kathrine and Brooke were also in the room. Both of them had the same white outfit on, except Kathrine had a blue jacket as well. Hazel just decided that she was cold and moved on.

Kathrine stood next to Brooke who sat in a chair by the window. Kat looked weary and distracted, but she still gave a half smile to Hazel. Brooke on the other hand appeared petrified, like she witnessed the murder of a close friend. She seemed to have been crying recently as her eyes were swollen and red. Her knuckles were pale as she gripped her knees. Kathrine placed her arm around Brooke and spoke softly, trying to bring her best friend back into the world of the living.

Memories flooded back into Hazel's mind.

"_Right, the explosion. We washed up on some island. The cute red head…" _

Suddenly, Hazel jumped up. Her breathing was heavy and her eyes were the size of baseballs.

"Ou-our luggage! We had it on the boat," Hazel frantically explained. "Wha-what happened to our clothes and stuff?!"

Kathrine turned her gaze downward. "I'm sorry Hazel, but I think all our belongings were destroyed along with the ship."

Her tone made it seem like she blamed herself for the accident. Of course, Kathrine had nothing to do with the ship's… untimely end, but since it was her idea that made them go flying off the boat, everyone silently agreed that she was the most responsible.

A whimper was heard from Brooke. Obviously, there was still enough of her present to understand what was going on, but the water incident left Brooke too traumatized to move.

Even Tyler looked ready to cry. "My beautiful drawings… they're all gone! I'll never be able to redraw them all! Oh, woe is me!"

Normally, Hazel would have teased Tyler on his over the top reaction, but she was distressed too.

"My phone was in there! So was my ipod! Why does the world hate me?"

Now, instead of a hospital, the room became a full-fledged pity party. Tears were streaming down Brooke's already red eyes. Tyler started quoting the saddest of Shakespeare, something he only does when he's upset. Hazel was taking her anger out on the pillows, which now began to look like misshapen squashes. And Kathrine refused to remove her eyes from the floor.

At first, these four friends had everything they could want, but now, they had lost it all because of some engine failure.

"I see the shock is still in affect."

Each of the teenagers turned to see who had just spoken. The voice appeared to come from another teen dressed in a white doctor's coat and black pants. He had jet black hair and grey eyes with round glasses. He appeared to be the same age as the four friends, except there was an air of maturity hanging around him. The boy's smile was kind, but his eyes held no sympathy.

Hazel didn't know who this guy was, but she felt that he had no business butting into their affairs.

"Who are you, four-eyes?" Hazel bluntly asked. She crossed her arms and glared at the boy, as if he had just insulted her in some way.

The guy, on the other hand, looked shocked. Perhaps no one had ever been this disrespectful to him before. Hazel was pretty rude. Despite this, he quickly readjusted his glasses and calmly asked:

"I beg your pardon?"

Hazel glowered more. "You heard me. What's your name? Or do you just want me to call you four-eyes?"

The teenager sighed. "No, my name's Jin. However, most people usually call me D-"

Hazel cut him off. "Nice name Gen. Now, second question: why are we all dressed in these stupid white clothes?"

Jin was clearly being annoyed by Hazel's impolite interruptions, but he tried to remain composed.

"Your old clothes were wet and covered in sand. I assumed that you'd want fresh outfits on and those were the only ones I had in your size."

"That's not what I meant!" Hazel shouted. "I mean HOW are we in these clothes? I don't remember changing into them."

A slight blush ran across Jin's face. "We had to- ahem- change you into them while the four of you were passed out."

Now, Hazel had a light red blush. "You… undressed us?!

As expected, the girl was absolutely mortified. She continued to lie on her bed, mouth gaping. Jin's cheeks reddened even more.

"Actually Irene, my grandmother, dressed you in those clothes," Jin explained irritably. "I did, however, have to examine your bodies to check for any serious wo-"

"OH MY GOD! YOU PERVERT!" Hazel shrieked. Her face was the color of the setting sun, but Hazel still held her award winning glare.

Utterly embarrassed and exasperated, Jin pinched the bridge of his nose and squeezed the railing of a bed. Tyler quickly grabbed his sibling's waist to prevent her from attacking the innocent boy. In frustration, Hazel persisted to scream.

"YOU SICKO! I'VE NEVER BEEN SO VIOLATED IN MY LIFE! I SHOULD HAVE YOU SUED FOR ASSALT! ONCE MY DAD HEARS ABOUT THIS-"

This time, Tyler cut her off.

"Hazel, you moron, he's a doctor! It's his job to search for wounds."

Hazel's shouting ceased. She looked at the teenager no older than her with an expression of bewilderment. Tyler let go of Hazel and expected her to apologize for her jumping to conclusions, but instead, she said:

"Oh, that makes sense."

In unison, Tyler and Kathrine gave their heads a face-palm.

To make up for Hazel's lack of manners, Kathrine hastily ran to Jin.

"Oh, I'm SO sorry about Hazel! She's always been really rash and inconsiderate to people she doesn't know. I'm sure Hazel doesn't mean anything she's saying," Kat politely apologized. She appeared flustered, like she wanted to prove herself as a lady and not like Hazel. But why would she want to impress this guy?

Jin gazed up from the floor and smiled at her. "That is quite alright. You're not responsible for her actions, but I appreciate your kindness."

Kathrine didn't meet his gaze. She turned her attention to her shoes, smiling. But what surprised her friends the most was the fact that Kat was blushing. She couldn't have gotten a crush on THIS boy, could she?

Hazel was thoroughly confused, thanks to the crazy morning (or afternoon?) and the discovery that Kathrine actually had romantic feelings, but after Tyler's punch on the arm, she assumed that a 'sorry' was in place.

"Um, sorry for calling you a 'pervert' and for… everything else I did."

This time, Jin peered coldly at Hazel. She shifted uncomfortably, for it felt like the doctor was staring at her soul, seeing all the wrong Hazel had done in her life, all the pranks she pulled.

Though it didn't seem like he accepted her apology, Jin faked a smile and tossed out a half-hearted "no problem". To lighten the mood, the stubborn girl laughed a forced laugh.

"Ha, I'd hate to see what would have happened if I didn't know you were a doctor. I probably would have sued you for everything you have an-"

"Young lady, I don't think you and your friends are in a position to sue anyone here," Jin grimly said.

The way he said 'young lady' made it appear like he viewed himself above Hazel, but that's not what bothered the group.

"What do you mean by that? What 'position' are we in?" Tyler questioned.

Doctor Jin scanned each person in the room as an eerie silence hung over the teenagers. All they knew was that some thing was wrong, but what did they do besides nearly drown?

Finally, Jin's eyes fixed on Hazel. For half a second, a cruel smirk spread across his lips.

"You four need to come with me."

* * *

"Well, fuck," Hazel whispered.

Tyler kicked her in the shins for her language, but his sister just punched him back.

The four friends- Hazel, Tyler, Brooke, and Kathrine- as well as Doctor Jin were standing on the very same beach they washed up on. The sand was pearly white, there was a path leading to the town they were just in, and quiet waves splashed on the shore. Everything was as Hazel remembered except for one detail she didn't notice before.

Just up a little incline to the left, there stood a pile of stone and rubble right next to the beach. The wreckage appeared to have happened recently as some stones shifted around. What was left of the structure looked beautifully made and seemed to hold some important nostalgic feeling, but it was destroyed.

However, that didn't hold a candle to what the team saw next. Each teen nervously strolled up the incline and gazed inside the wall of slab.

Kathrine gasped. Brooke covered her mouth to stifle a scream. Tyler continuously mumbled: "No, no it can't be!" And Hazel simply stared in disbelief at the all too familiar and all too unwanted object inside the circle of debris.

Mixed in with the stone and bricks was a large metal portion of the outside of a boat called "The Midday Dream", the same boat that transported the friends half way to their destination.

The friends looked in horror at what laid in front of them. Their ship caused the demolition of these islanders'… thingy. No one was sure what the building used to be.

To answer their question, Jin spoke up. "That is our most beloved lighthouse. Or, at least, it used to be."

He sneered at Hazel. "It was valued at 500,000 gold."

Brooke nearly fainted at this news and Tyler had to catch her so that she didn't fall back into the uncontrollable sea. Kathrine was paler than Tyler's blond hair, looking as if she wanted to throw up whatever was left of her last meal on the boat.

Hazel, however, glared at Jin as he took way too much delight in her pain.

The cruel doctor sneered. "You are in a lot of trouble missy."

* * *

**Well that was fun. Sorry Jin fans! I made him sound like a jerk, but he's only getting revenge for Hazel calling him a pervert. I actually really like Jin. Anyway, I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as possible, but school is killing me! X_X **

**P.S. A little shout out to XxMillionMidnightsxX: Thanks SO much for the review! ;_; You have no idea what that means to me! You really inspired me. Thank you!  
**


	3. Holiday's Over

**Okay I'm back. Sorry it took so long to update, but I finally got a weekend that wasn't completely booked. I wish I could have a more interesting chapter to put up, but I need to get this out of the way. **

**The good news is that the next chapter is when high school starts. If I get everything I want done in that chapter, then I'll post the parings. If not, it'll be in the chapter after that.  
**

**Anyway, on with the story.  
**

* * *

After their experience with Jin, the four friends had no intention to meet more locals that day. Unfortunately for them, Dr. Jin would have none of that. He forced his patients to walk to some shop.

As it turned out, they'd woken up early morning, so almost no one was up, but a place called Sonata Tailoring was open.

The doctor explained how he would need the clothes they had back. As rude as Hazel thought that was she also didn't want to keep something Jin touched and agreed to give the outfits to him after they had new ones.

Once inside the tailoring, the friends found a short, gray-haired woman organizing some shirts on a rack. She wore a pink bandana with a braid and small glasses on her nose. When the lady noticed her four customers, she quickly rushed over to greet them.

The woman introduced herself as Shelly, the manager of the Sonata Tailoring. Shelly was quite cheerful and polite, so each of the teenagers took a liking to her. She seemed very friendly, like Shelly would help anyone in need. Plus, after they explained their predicament, she decided to give them each five outfits for half price! Considering that the cost of the clothes was going to add itself to the teens already large debt, each of them did a happy dance.

Following their little dance, Shelly asked the four what their preferred clothing choice was and disappeared into the back room, only to come back with her arms full of beautifully sewn garments. Soon, each of them was dressed back into their comfortable colors.

Hazel had chosen a yellow tank top with an orange skirt and mountain boots. All her other outfits consisted of so many colors that it looked like a rainbow had just thrown up. Her color pairings seemed odd, but Hazel could easily pull it off.

Tyler didn't go all out on the shadings. Instead, he stuck to three colors: purple, blue, and green. In next to no time, Tyler was fitted into a loose blue shirt with a tie of a lighter shade, and brown Bermuda shorts. He almost got a pair of dark purple shoes that everyone thought he was going to be teased about, but opted for a green pair instead.

Kathrine was easy. She really only wanted some jeans and sweater vests of whatever color. Shelly determined that she would look good in blue, green, and gray, so the woman gave her five sweater vests with different designs in the three colors. Kathrine then selected a simple pair of white tennis shoes.

Last was Brooke, who still seemed traumatized but managed to cough out a few sentences. She was rapidly dressed in a purple, long-sleeve shirt with a skirt and leggings of a darker purple. Brooke's other color choices were green, pink, red, and blue. For shoes, she stuck with black dress shoes, the ones that usually only little kids wear, but they were Brooke's favorite.

After all the clothes were added together, the price came to 2,000 gold. Luckily, thanks to Shelly's discount, the charge was cut to 1,000 gold. And to add to the lady's kindness, Shelly explained how they only needed to pay the sum when they had the money, so no deadlines.

By this time, Hazel wanted to kiss the woman. However, they needed to get going. The sooner the friends paid their debt, the better.

Jin was still waiting outside with a book that must have come from thin air, since no one saw him with one earlier. The doctor had explained earlier about how the mayor made the decision of letting them run an abandoned farm to pay off their debt. None of the teenagers were all that excited about it and tried to argue, but a quick glance over to the rubble once known as a lighthouse shut them all up.

Jin was also supposed to guide the four to their new, old farm, but instead, he decided that he was required to return to the clinic with the clothes as soon as possible. As a substitute for walking the team there, Jin simply pointed across a bridge and said "That way".

With that, he turned around and entered the Choral Clinic once more. Hazel began making strangling gestures with her hands, but quickly stopped in case someone was watching. The last thing she needed were rumors about her being a psychopath, so they started walking across the bridge.

Hazel rolled her eyes at Kathrine who was whispering "He's so dedicated to his work" with a dreamy look. Soon, she couldn't hold her anger any longer.

"I can't believe that guy! I can't believe the mayor! Heck, I can't believe this town!" Hazel complained. "Why are they blaming us for our ship exploding? It's not like we wanted to go flying out into the ocean and wash up on the shore, out cold I might mention."

The girl began clenching her fists. "But no, we HAVE to pay this stupid debt because the explosion broke their precious lighthouse, so the town's making four TEENAGERS work on a farm. Why, in the name of peanut butter, are we responsible for this?!"

For several seconds, none of the other three said a word. Each of them seemed just as confused about the whole situation, until finally Kathrine spoke up.

"I know it's unfair- even I can't fully understand why they are doing this- but we are responsible because it was technically our boat and the mayor has no way of knowing if the ship malfunction was indeed not our fault. Therefore, we will not be let off the hook until we have evidence that the explosion was an accident… or not an acc-"

Kathrine stopped short of what ever she was going to say next. The look on her face gave the feeling that she wasn't telling them everything. However, Hazel knew better than to pry since Kat could be very secretive. It was best just to move on.

"Well," Tyler shouted with a big smile, "if we have to work on a farm, then we'd better make it the most fabulous farm in the history of the world!"

Kathrine and Hazel raised an eyebrow at him. Tyler was the last person they expected to get excited about this, since he hated getting dirty.

At their expressions, Tyler only laughed. "Of course, to make it fabulous, we need to paint the barn purple. That's probably the only thing I'm going to have any experience with. You guys can do the rest."

Hazel cracked a smile. Maybe this place wasn't going to be so bad.

* * *

By mid-morning, the gang reached their destination. They stared in awe at the run down structure. Despite its old look, the farm still seemed to stand tall. There was a small house right in front of a farming plot that had bit of peeling paint, but other than that looked great. Next to the house was a tiny shack-like building that Kathrine decided was the chicken coop. To the right of that stood another shack, only much bigger. It must have been the barn.

Both the barn and coop were falling apart in different ways. The roofs on each of them were caved in some. The door to the coop was hanging off its hinges and there was a gaping hole in the side of the barn. Yet, the buildings continued to hold up.

"I wonder how long it's been since someone has owned this ranch?" Kathrine speculated.

"Yoo-hoo! Ms. Hazel, Ms. Kathrine, Ms. Brooke, and Mr. Tyler!"

Startled, the group swung around to face a plump, gray-haired man jogging towards them. Hazel had to stifle a laugh. The guy was racing to them with a look of complete exhaustion, like this run was the most exercise he had had in years. When he finally reached the gang, the old man leaned over on his knees and panted continuously.

"Um," Kathrine mumbled, "are you alright?"

Suddenly, the tired old man shot up with a cheery smile on his face. He grabbed Kathrine's out stretched hand and shook it fiercely.

"Oh yes, I am quite alright! It is very nice to meet all of you! I am Mayor Hamilton, the, well, mayor of Castanet," the gentleman exclaimed. "I must say; the circumstances that made you come here are not the finest, but we will make the best of it."

Hazel bit her lip. "You're talking about the lighthouse aren't you?"

Mayor Hamilton's smile faltered a little. "I'm afraid yes that is the concern."

Swiftly, making Hazel nearly fall over, Kat bowed her head. "I am so sorry for the trouble we have caused! I know we can't prove it, but the ship detonation was an accident! We didn't mean to destroy your lighthouse!"

The mayor patted Kathrine on the skull. "I believe you about it being an accident, but the people here want someone to fix the building. All you have to do is pay for the repairs; it's not like you four are prisoners here. And I promise that no one will mistreat you for the incident."

With another merry smile, Mayor Hamilton lifted Kat's head back up. Then, he pulled out a small notebook for his pocket.

"Now back to business. My main reason for coming here was to receive more information about you four," the mayor explained. "First off, what are your last names and birthdays?"

He nodded his head to Hazel.

"Oh, my last name is Falker. My birthday is the 24th of summer."

The mayor quickly jotted down her info and then turned his gaze to Tyler. Momentarily, Tyler didn't speak a word or move a muscle. He appeared a little confused. Hazel realized why pretty quick and jumped in.

"Sorry, Tyler's last name and birthday are the same as mine," Hazel clarified. "You see, we're fraternal twins."

Mayor Hamilton raised an eyebrow in excitement. "Ooh, that's unusual! Which one of you is older?"

Hazel puffed out her chest. "I am proudly older by a little over a minute."

The old man smiled and wrote down the data. Next, he turned to Brooke. Since the quiet girl still seemed distressed and hadn't spoken a word the whole time, Hazel, Tyler, and Kathrine were all surprised when Brooke talked so easily.

"My last name is Albertson. And my birthday is the 11th of fall."

A small nod and Kathrine became the last to have his attention.

"I have the last name Norris. My birth date is the 9th of winter."

After his pen stopped moving, Hamilton put his notebook away and pulled out a map.

"Of course, since you're going to live here, I need to explain where everything is," Mayor Hamilton said. He began pointing at different spots on the map. "Over here we have Flute Fields. You will find Marimba Farm for seeds and crops, and Horn Ranch for anything to do with animals. There is also the Fugue Forest if you need to get lumber. Next there is the Garmon Mine District. There you will have the Carpenter's, General Store, Accessory Shop, and the Blacksmith. You can mine here too if you have spare time. And last is Harmonica town. There are many stores here like the Tailoring, Brass Bar, Photo Shop, Fishery, and Ocarina Inn. Town Hall- where you can usual find me- is also in this area, as well as the Clinic where you woke up. The church is just up the hill and I think that is everything."

Mayor Hamilton handed the map to Hazel.

"Here, in case you get confused. Now, there are plenty of books inside the house that explain about farming and taking care of animals. I think that just clearing out the field and buildings is the best thing to do today. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me or someone in Flute Fields."

The mayor started to walk away, but Kathrine quickly called him back over.

"Wait! What about school?" Kathrine asked.

Hamilton knitted his eyebrows together.

"What about school?"

"Mayor Hamilton, we're not done with our school days. We still have one year left since the four of us are only seventeen."

The mayor's eyes widened.

"Oh dear, I had no idea that you still went to school!" The old mayor pondered the situation. "Well this is a pickle. We can't keep you from your education, so…"

Suddenly, he clapped his hands together.

"I guess I have no choice but to enroll you at Harmonica High!" Hamilton shouted. He looked surprisingly giddy about the idea. "The first day of term starts tomorrow. Classes begin at 8:30 A.M., so any farm work you have can be done before hand. I better start filling out the paperwork for it. See you tomorrow!"

Once again, Mayor Hamilton started to waltz away, but stopped abruptly.

"One last thing: what do you want to name your farm?"

Still shocked by what had just happened and by what was going to happen, Hazel took a second to take in what Hamilton said. She turned to Kathrine and Tyler. All three of them smiled. Castanet had a nice musical theme going on here. Each of them knew exactly what to call the ranch.

"Melody Farm," they all said together.

* * *

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _

Kathrine opened her eyes. She saw a stream of light coming through the window. Below her was a small mattress that Hazel found in the closet. Over to the right stood another mattress where Brooke had slept. Kathrine and Brooke decided to room together in the small bedroom while Tyler and Hazel took the bed in the main hub. It was a bit crowded since the house wasn't meant for four people, but it was better than nothing.

_Beep. Beep._

Kat promptly grabbed her phone and turned off the alarm before it gave her a headache. Well, technically the phone wasn't hers. Hazel and Tyler's parents were kind enough to buy Kathrine the phone since she couldn't afford one. She was amazed that it survived the water.

Wait, why does Kathrine have her phone back if her luggage was lost? Well, around noon the day before, Hamilton came back to the farm carrying two carry-on bags. Somehow they had floated to the shore of Harmonica Town. Tyler and Kathrine squealed with delight. The bags were theirs and they were the ones with Tyler's drawings and art supplies and Kathrine's journals, diary, and books. Also, both of their phones were in the pockets, completely dry.

Tyler and Kat remembered carrying the bags above deck right before the explosion. They must have fallen into the water too. Luckily, the luggage was water-proof.

Anyway, Kathrine turned off the alarm and slowly crawled out of bed. Normally she would leap, but she wasn't too enthusiastic about going to school with a bunch of people whose lighthouse she just destroyed. Inch by inch, Kathrine went to the closet and pulled on her clothes. By this time, she finally noticed that Brooke was already gone from her bed.

A tantalizing smell wafted in from the kitchen. It became obvious where Brooke was.

Kathrine walked into the kitchen, yawning and stretching. Brooke was hastily working with the burners, making eggs and toast. Another thing the mayor brought yesterday was, thankfully, a bit of food. Hazel and Tyler were by now sitting at the table. Both of them looked tired and a little nervous.

When Brooke finished making breakfast, Kathrine sat down and the friends ate in silence. Before they knew it, Hazel, Tyler, Brooke, and Kathrine were standing in front of a large building with a sign that read: "Harmonic High School".

Kathrine's stomach twisted and did several somersaults. The eggs apparently wanted back up. Kathrine had never experienced this feeling. She doesn't get nervous about school!

But this school year would be different because everyone would know of her before she knew them. Plus, they would probably have bitterness towards Kathrine because of the lighthouse. Other's opinions really mattered to Kat.

She groaned. "I don't think I can do it."

Tyler looked shocked. "Well I'll be, Kat's afraid to go to school!"

Hazel snickered a little, but Kathrine simply doubled over and held her stomach.

"_Don't throw up! Don't throw up!" _Kathrine pleaded in her head.

Suddenly, a soft hand rested itself against her back. Surprised, Kathrine looked up and saw Brooke staring at her. Her gentle yet stunning green eyes remained locked onto Kathrine's chocolate eyes. Brooke opened her mouth.

"You know, you let people's opinions bother you too much. We don't even know if they have heard much about us," Gradually, a smile appeared on Brooke's lips. It had been awhile since the gang had seen it. "But you know what else? I bet this is going to be the best school year we have ever had!"

Few several moments, Kathrine just stared into Brooke's green eyes. Even without her smile, Brooke's eyes held so much kindness and innocence. All the distress they had shown in the past had disappeared. Now, they only glowed with happiness and warmed Kathrine up inside.

Kat let go of her stomach and smile. Straightening herself, she stood confidently. Kathrine looked over to her friends.

"You know… I find that Brooke is always right."

With that, the gang marched boldly into the unknown.

* * *

**Sorry if it wasn't as interesting as the last chapter. Of course, like I said, high school starts next and so does the drama. The pairings will be posted next chapter or the chapter after next. I'll try to update pretty soon. **


	4. Are We Making Friends Or Enemies

**First thing: LOOOOONG chapter here. I wanted to get everything about the first day done in one chapter so that I could put up the pairings. I did it thanks to the holiday, but I still feel like it's a bit rushed. Later chapters will be better. **

**However, like I said, I am going to put the pairings down at the bottom, so don't peek. Or do, I really don't care. XP  
**

**Most of the page is constructed of dialogue, so it's not as long as it looks, though it is long. Any who, on with the first day of Harmonica High!  
**

* * *

"Are they here yet?" Luke eagerly asked. He was standing on top of his desk, looking over at the door expectedly.

"Sit down Luke. They are obviously not here yet."

Luke turned and glared at the boy who spoke. It was the mayor's son, Gill, reading a book as usual. It was normal for him to snap at Luke, but that didn't make Luke hate Gill's bored look, blond hair, and stupid curl on his head any less.

"Well then, where are they?" Luke questioned. "School starts in five minutes. I wanna see these four teenagers. I wanna ask them how they managed to destroy the lighthouse."

Luke pumped his fists. "That's the biggest and bestest prank I've ever seen!"

Gill put his book down and rolled his electric blue eyes. "It wasn't a prank, moron. My father says that their ship exploded somehow and accidentally hit the lighthouse. And why are you so excited to meet them? They destroyed an important landmark! The four of them are probably juvenile delinquents."

Confused, Luke pushed his messy blue hair out of his face and raised an eyebrow. "What are juvenile deli-… whatever you said?"

Gill sighed. "Never mind."

Renee, a rancher who sat in the desk beside Gill, leaned over. "Their ship exploded?! That's horrible! My father said that he heard that a ship randomly docked and dropped the kids off and afterwards ran into the lighthouse."

Sharing Renee's desk, Phoebe joined the conversation. "Someone told me that the teens came out of the ocean and put a bomb in the lighthouse. How do you know the mayor is right?"

"My father is right because, first off, all your stories are outlandish and impossible. Second, he talked to the four people about what happened. That was their explanation."

Luke looked around. Since there were very little people on the island, the school only had two classes going at a time, so half of the teens went to one class, while the others went to another. Two of the newcomers were planned on being in this English class as their first period, leaving room for eight other people. Besides Luke, Gill, Renee, and Phoebe, there was Toby, a lazy fisherman, Anissa, the Marimba farmers' daughter, Calvin, an archeologist, and Bo, Luke's cousin, in the classroom. All four of them were listening intently to the conversation.

Luke smiled wildly. "I wanna hear their side of the story first-hand. I bet I can be best friends with these 'Jovial Delicates'."

Gill smacked his forehead. Before he could correct Luke, though, the bell rang and Renee's dad, Cain, walked into the room.

"Alright everyone, happy first day of school," Cain exclaimed. He smiled cheerfully at his eight students. "As I'm sure you're all aware, there will be four new faces in this school this year. Mayor Hamilton would like you all to be courteous to them despite the circumstances."

Suddenly, there was a soft knock on the door. With excited speed, Cain bounded towards the entrance.

"That must be them now."

The room held its breath as the teacher guided two fresh faces into the quiet class. Luke's golden eyes locked onto the targets. Both of the teens were girls. One had long, dirty-blonde hair and wore a tank top and skirt, while the other had short, chestnut colored hair and wore a sweater vest (ugh, another nerd) with jeans. The brunette also wore black glasses.

"Class," Cain explained, "this is Hazel Falker," he pointed to the blonde, "and this is Kathrine Norris," he placed his hand on the brunette's shoulder.

Without much thought, as usual, Luke jumped out of his chair and shouted:

"What's up newbies?! Nice to meet 'cha!"

Dead silence… for about two seconds, at least. Everyone, except Gill and the new kids, busted out laughing. While Gill simply shook his head and glared, the nerdy girl looked shocked and embarrassed. For awhile, she just stared at Luke in disbelief.

However, the blonde teenager grinned just as boisterously as Luke and hollered back:

"It's good to find a _normal_ person living on this island. I was beginning to worry."

With that, she ran up to the supposedly 'normal' boy and gave him a high five. The class couldn't contain themselves. Laughing along with the others, Cain tried to calm down everyone before things got too out of hand. The only two people not taking any enjoyment in Luke and Hazel's performance was Gill, who was attempting to read some more, and the new girl Kathrine, who crossed her arms and looked disapprovingly at Hazel.

Finally, the sniggering subsided. Despite the slight outburst, Cain continued the class as normal. He decided to seat Hazel next to Luke (bad idea right there) and Kathrine next to Gill. Afterwards, Renee's dad switched on the projector and played a movie about a book the class was going to read the first semester.

Bored even before the movie started, Luke tuned out the clip and commenced chatting with Hazel.

"Nice entrance by the way."

Hazel smirked. "Well, when starting a school year, you want to make a lasting impression-"

"No, I mean your entrance to the island," Luke cut off.

Hazel's smile faded. "What are you talking about? I de- I mean our ship destroyed your island's lighthouse! And now we're being forced to pay for the damages! Are you saying you're okay with that?"

The girl put her hands on her hips. When Luke only scratched his head, Hazel rolled her eyes.

"Do you know how much hate I've gotten?! Our ship accidentally explodes and suddenly the doctor hates me, the mayor's out to get me, our farm is trying to break my back, and I'm pretty sure there's a squirrel with a chainsaw hunting my down! Though, that last one might just have been a dream. I don't know. I didn't sleep well."

Luke's eyes expanded. "So your boat DID explode!"

"You didn't hear anything I said did you?" Hazel sighed.

"Tell me what happened! Please! PLEEEASE!" Luke begged.

Amused, Hazel sneered and patted Luke on the head. "Very well."

For most of the rest of the class, Hazel told the completely true, absolutely real, there's-no-way-I'm-lying, version of the four friends' terrifying adventure to the island. Luke, and who ever else decided to listen, was hanging off the edge of his seat, eyes dilated and ears open. It wasn't until Hazel got to the part about her wrestling a giant kraken that Gill finally got too irritated and shushed the story-teller up.

In response, Hazel stuck out her tongue.

"Oh, real mature," Gill whispered. Eventually, he went back to the movie.

Just when she was about to start again, Hazel caught Cain's eye. He didn't approve of her story. She quickly returned to a regular seating position and placed her head on the table.

Hazel turned to Luke. "I'll tell you the rest next period."

"Aaah."

Hazel giggled and winked at the impatient carpenter.

When first period finally did finish, Luke, Hazel, and Bo walked to their math class. Once inside the classroom, Hazel pumped her fist. Both her other friends, Tyler and Brooke, were going to share the class with her.

Luke took a look at Tyler and grinned. He seemed like a cool guy with his messy hair and surfer dude appearance. Maybe they could hang together and go swimming or something. It was obvious that he was Hazel's brother, since they both had this special smile that made teachers immediately prepare their detention list. If he was anything like Hazel, Luke knew he would have a new friend in him.

Then, the carpenter switched his gaze to Brooke. Suddenly, Luke's heart stopped. He grabbed his chest and started taking quiet gasps for air. Her eyes… her eyes froze his brain and caused all his vital functions to cease working momentarily, like a clock skipping a beat. Every one of her violent red hairs burned into his mind.

"_She's the most beautiful girl I've ever seen!" _

For several seconds, Luke stood stalk still and gawked at Brooke. Her glowing green eyes raised his heart rate ten fold after it started again. Her calm, warm smile lifted his spirit away. And her hair, oh that hair! Brooke's hair glided down her face and held her rosy cheeks in a flattering way. Every single strand of the blazing locks sent fire through Luke's heart and brain.

If they were alone, the boy could have gaped at Brooke for hours. Unfortunately, they were not.

"Luke?"

Still in a trance, Luke said something intelligent like:

"Aaugha lahnka?"

"Luke, you're drooling," Bo said, raising an eyebrow.

From hearing this, Luke snapped out of his daydream. All three of the newcomers were staring curiously at him. Slightly embarrassed, Luke rubbed the back of his head and blushed.

"Whoops! Sorry, I guess I'm a bit hungry. Serves me right for not eating breakfast."

Just like he wanted, Brooke smiled and laughed. Before anyone else could, Luke sat down next to Brooke. She put out her hand and gave a soft "hello" to him. Like last time, the clueless boy said something dim-witted along the lines of:

"Uh… uh duh."

However, Brooke only giggled more which cause Luke to beam. If he looked like an idiot, at least he looked like a funny idiot.

After they took their seats, Hazel puffed out her chest and jumped right back into the story. With exhilarating detail, she explained about her fight with the Kraken, her selfless act of saving her brother from water devils, and closed with her dragging everyone to shore, only to be knocked out by ninjas.

"That didn't happen," Tyler complained after his twin finished. "You're stretching the truth to make it sound really cool."

"And it was working too, no thanks to you," Hazel said, sticking out her tongue again.

While Hazel and Tyler started to argue with each other about who was the most heroic, Luke nervously turned his attention back to Brooke.

"Sooooo… how's your first day been?"

Brooke gave a shy smile. "It's been alright, though I'm not that great at making friends, so… it has been a little awkward."

A small blush spread across her face. Immediately, Luke felt bad for Brooke. It couldn't have been easy being the new kid, especially if rumors were already flying around about you. Suddenly surged with protectiveness, Luke mentally decided to make it his duty to help Brooke and all her friends have a good time on Castanet.

"Don't you worry little lady!" Luke cried. "I'll introduce you to all my bestest friends, so you don't feel so out of place. Don't worry about it, they'll all love you!"

With fierce determination, Luke locked eyes with Brooke. His golden irises peered into her gentle green ones. Courteously, he held out his hand.

"And I can be your first friend here. What do you say?"

Luke gave Brooke his signature dopey smile. At first, the shy girl stared in silence at his hand. Then, she met his gaze, her eyes like an adorable kitten's, and hugged Luke until his back snapped in half.

"Yes, I'd love to be your friend!" Brooke whispered.

When she pulled away, Luke flushed and swiftly rotated his head, praying that she didn't see him drooling… again.

In time, the teacher showed up and began class, and Luke, Brooke, Hazel, and Tyler had a great time talking to each other. It was the start of a wonderful friendship.

* * *

Unfortunately, Kathrine had a little bad luck in her next class. While Hazel, Brooke, and Tyler made new friends, Kat was stuck alone in her history class with none of her partners.

As she always does, Kathrine proceeded right to her next period, never stopping to say hello to anyone. School was a place for learning, not for socializing. Once inside, she was unaccompanied in a quiet, empty room.

Or, at least, she thought it was empty.

In the right corner of the space sat a boy Kathrine recognized. It was that blond boy in the last class, the one that hushed Hazel. Kat beamed. Even though Hazel probably didn't like him, the guy seemed very responsible and mature. Who better to be Kathrine's first friend here? Just because the four were new didn't mean that she was going to slack.

So to keep on top of things, Kathrine wanted to find someone just as dependable in school as she was. This boy was a good start. Or, she thought he was.

"Hello," Kathrine greeted.

The blond boy practically leapt out of his chair and dropped the book he was intently reading. Aggravated, he spun around and glared at Kat.

Shocked by his reaction, Kathrine stepped back and picked up his book. Even as she lifted the novel up, she could feel the daggers that the teenager's eyes were sending.

"Sorry about that," Kathrine regretted. She handed the tousled hardback to the angry boy. "I didn't realize that you were completely sucked into your book."

She smiled apologetically. Despite her explanation, the boy continued to frown, causing Kat to shift uncomfortably on her feet. She had seen his eyes. Not only were they annoyed, but the pair expressed a stunning blue.

Now, Tyler had very nice blue eyes, but his irises were an icy blue with lots of spunk and curiosity. Kathrine had learned to love the color.

This lad's eyes, though, were electric. I mean really electric! As Kathrine tried to meet his gaze, bolts of lightning went through her body. His pupils were more or less giving off sparks. There was nothing warm about the color, only a cold stare.

To break the silence surrounding them, the serious boy finally spoke.

"You're one of those new kids, are you not?"

To add to his chilling glare, this boy's voice was hinted with spite. Trying to stay polite, Kathrine bowed her head.

"Yes, my name is Kathrine Norris. We sat next to each other in English."

"I know that," the boy barked. "I'm not blind."

She waited patiently for another sentence to pour out of his mouth. Nothing came. Now, Kat began to lose patience with the boy. He hadn't even introduced himself. How rude was that?!

"And you are?"

"Gill Hamilton," the lad sighed.

"Wait, Hamilton? Like Mayor Hamilton?"

"Yes, that is my father," Gill proudly stated. "I am the mayor's only son."

"Wow, so you probably know all about my friends and me don't you?"

Instantly, Gill's prideful expression transformed back into a glare. "Indeed. And I must say that your friend Hazel isn't making the best first impression being rowdy and disruptive."

Kathrine rubbed the back of her head. "Yeah, sorry about that. Hazel can be pretty loud and annoying, but she's really not that bad."

The mayor's son nodded his head. "Loud and annoying is an under statement! That girl is a nitwit! Plus, she's making friends with that brainless carpenter boy, Luke. Your buddy Hazel is going to be nothing but trouble for this island."

At this, Kathrine crossed her arms and glowered at Gill. No one insults her friends like that. It was time to teach this boy a lesson.

"Hey," Kathrine said, raising her voice slightly. "Hazel's not a nitwit! She's just a little rash, but there are a lot of great things about her! You can't judge someone before you know them!"

"I wouldn't expect you to understand. They're your associates after all. You're just like them. You four are just a bunch of blockheads who think they can simply go anywhere and do whatever they want."

Currently fuming, Kathrine's cheeks flushed. Who did this jerk think he was?! Now, instead of just insulting Hazel, he was insulting all of them, including her!

"I am not a 'blockhead' and neither are my friends!" Kathrine shouted. "And if you're implying that we destroyed your precious lighthouse on purpose, you are dead wrong! You have no idea what we went through and just because your daddy is the mayor, it doesn't mean you can assume that you know everything! What kind of mayor is that?"

Now, Gill's face was a shade of red. "I'll have you know that I am to succeed my father and become the greatest mayor this island has ever seen. What are you going to do? Demolish our church?"

Kathrine clenched and unclenched her fists. The problem was that these two were both extremely prideful, so it was unlikely for either one of them to back down. If they did, every ounce of pride in their body would wash over and be replace with humiliation. Unfortunately, if one of them didn't leave the argument soon, someone was going to lose their pride and their head.

"I told you," Kathrine said through gritted teeth, "the lighthouse thing was an accident. None of us were attempting to take out a random island's building. Heck, we were not attempting anything. Every single one of us were lucky to float ashore alive, since we were knocked out!"

"Well, if you're still going to try to convince me that you and your friends are not imbeciles after that, then you are only proving my point. Next time, when you end up in the ocean without a boat, don't go to sleep."

"Augh! We didn't- we weren't… there was wreckage in the water… you don't," Kathrine stammered, too outraged to construct a full sentence. "Oh, forget it! I'm done trying to be nice to you! Just sit here and sulk in your little corner alone! But do me a favor," Kat's eyes glowed with hated and leered back at Gill's which contained just as much disgust, "don't talk to me ever again!"

With that, Kathrine stomped away and park herself on the other side of the room, steam pouring out of her ears. Gill went back to his book, but he was so enraged that he tore a page off the spine. No girl ever spoke like that to him! What he said was all true and she had it coming! Did she expect the royal treatment when she woke up? Those stupid city girls are all alike.

But if that was the truth… then why did he feel so bad? Kathrine definitely was different than any other teenage girl Gill met.

"_Bah, girls are too confusing! I'll just forget we ever talked. That's what she wanted, isn't it?" _Gill thought to himself.

The rest of the period and the next period went by without much confrontation. Before the fourth and final class, everyone went to lunch. Kathrine was very thankful for it since it had been two periods of her all by herself. Brooke and Tyler were completely cool with their schedule. Both of the friends shared the same four classes. And Hazel bragged about already making new friends in each period, two of which decided to sit with the group.

It was Luke and Bo. Kathrine remembered them from first period. Although she didn't find Luke's loud personality amusing, he hadn't insulted any of her comrades, so Kat was okay with him. Bo was much quieter and seemed like more of a Luke tag-along, but they enjoyed his company anyway.

The topic at lunch today was about everyone's schedule. Brooke was quite happy with hers.

"It great that I get to share classes with Tyler! That way I'm never alone," Brooke explained. "Plus, we all have science together. That's going to be fun!"

"Oh yeah," Hazel exclaimed, "Next period the four of us have the same science room. Sweet!"

Kathrine gave a half smile. "I'm glad you three like your classes."

She didn't say anything else after that, so Hazel knitted her eyebrows together.

"Um, how are your classes, princess?"

As expected, Kat glared at the comment. However, she merely sighed and turned away.

"They're fine, I guess."

Now Hazel was really interested.

"Oh come on! You love school! Why are you suddenly all depressed about it? Is someone giving you a hard time? 'Cause I can smack them for ya!"

Hazel tightened her fist and showed off her muscles. Kathrine giggled a little. One of Hazel's most redeeming qualities was her incredible loyalty and protectiveness of her friends. It was probably the thing that made Kathrine like her so much. She could depend on her, even though they fought a lot.

"There's nothing you can do about this boy, Hazel," Kathrine explained.

"Oh, so it's a boy that needs a lesson in manners. Where is he? I'll make him pay for whatever he did!"

"Don't worry about it you dork! He's just a bit of a jerk, that's all. The real problem is that we had an outburst right before second period and I have him in every class! It's just uncomfortable walking past the guy after I just yelled at him."

Brooke put an understanding hand on Kathrine's shoulder.

"I'm sorry. I didn't even ask how your day was. I should have been more concerned."

With a small smile, Kathrine batted Brooke's arm away. "Stop blaming yourself for stuff like this. I know you didn't make me angry. It was that stupid jerk." Suddenly, Kat's eyes widen. "Hey, he's right over there, sitting by himself."

All heads rotated towards the mystery jerk. When his eyes caught sight of the blond curl, Luke groaned.

"You got stuck with Gill. Boy do I feel sorry for you!"

"That's the kid who shushed me in English! He's the one bothering you Kat?" Hazel started to get up. "I'll show him what happens when you mess with one of my friends!"

Bo quickly took hold of Hazel's wrist before she did anything stupid.

"Not a good idea. Gill's the mayor's son and he can have you kicked off this island before you can say 'I'm sorry'."

Kathrine looked pleadingly at her friend.

"Please don't annoy him, Hazel. He's hard enough to deal with now."

Knowing she couldn't win this one, Hazel exhaled and returned to her seat, chewing her lunch bitterly. Trying to lift the mood a little, Kathrine laughed.

"Besides, my friend, just look at him," Kathrine pointed out. "He's all alone over there. It looks like Gill doesn't even have a single buddy. In fact, I feel sorry for HIM."

Luke smacked Kat on the back. The force of the blow nearly knocked the girl out of her chair, but Luke just gave her a thumbs-up.

"'Atta girl! Stay strong!"

Everyone started chuckling at Luke's dopey grin. If you got to know him, there wasn't anyway you could not love Luke.

All of the sudden, Tyler caught Hazel's eye. He wasn't laughing or eating really anything.

"Yo, bro, don't forget that you need to put that stuff in your mouth. It doesn't just magically appear in your stomach."

When she got no response, Hazel raised an eyebrow.

"What are you staring at?"

"Don't you see her, sister dear?" Tyler dreamily mumbled. "She's standing over there, an angel among men."

Hazel switched her line of sight to where her twin was gaping endlessly at. Over by the wall, right next to Renee, stood a blue haired girl in light blue clothes, almost trying to melt through the wall. She kept her hair in two braids and hung the bangs in her face, like she didn't want anyone to see her eyes.

Honestly, the girl was very cute, but there didn't seem to be anything special about her. What made her so attractive to Tyler?

To answer her question, Tyler sighed.

"Last period, we brushed by each other," he explained. "I managed to get her name. It's Candace. Such a beautiful name…"

For a moment, the dramatic boy trailed off. He swiftly returned, though, with more creeper information about the lass.

"She's the granddaughter of Shelly. You know, the manager of the Sonata Tailoring. Candace is the head seamstress."

Tyler's eyes sparkled like stars.

"That's my dream girl right there. A woman that is beautiful, can sew, and has a good eye for fashion."

After Tyler slid his head on his hand, everyone was silent. Then, Hazel let out a small snigger. Suddenly, Luke busted out laughing. Pretty soon everybody, even Tyler, was chuckling at his crush confession, tears forming in their eyes.

Regrettably, their happiness didn't last long. At a random moment, Brooke screeched. Her clothes and hair were, out of the blue, soaked in some kind of juice.

"Oops."

Each table member raised their heads to meet the eyes of an exotic girl with dark red hair. She wore very revealing garments and glittered from all of the gems she had on. There was a small cup in her hand, held above Brooke's head.

"I'm sorry. I should really watch where I put my pineapple juice," the girl said sarcastically.

Brooke looked close to tears. Her new outfit was completely ruined by the sticky mess. However, it was against her nature to be rude to any living creature.

"It's okay," the poor teenager said miserably.

With a cock of the head and a cruel smile, the she-devil pranced away, enjoying the pain she just caused.

"Who is that?" Kathrine asked, her voice filled to the brim with resentment.

"That's Selena," Bo explained. The girl joined her friends over at another table. There sat a short schoolgirl with lots of curly pink hair and a tall blonde wearing western clothes. "She's apart of the 'In' crowd, along with Luna and Kathy. The three are supposedly really popular girls who are better than everyone else, but really, they're just a bunch of vipers."

Bo turned to Brooke. "It's best that you just stay out of their way. I don't even know why they went after you in the first place."

Luke grunted. "She's probably not happy about you four getting so much attention. That's not a good enemy to start a school year with."

Hazel and Tyler glared at the three she-devils while Kat and Luke tried to clean the pineapple mess off Brooke. Selena took great stride in glowering at her poor victim like she just slapped her mother across the face. The pink haired girl seemed more preoccupied with staring down Kathrine as she tried to dry her friend's clothes and tears. But the blonde wasted no time in meeting Hazel's gaze.

All of a sudden, a new boy walked into the picture. He had red hair, a black shirt, and large muscle. Hazel's eyes amplified to size four.

"That's him," she whispered.

"What?"

Hazel looked Tyler right in the eye. "That's the boy that came to help us on the beach! I remember him!"

Excited, Hazel readily got out of her chair to say hi, but stopped abruptly. The boy was walking towards Kathy. She smiled flirtatiously and pulled him into an embrace. Hazel's face and spirit fell. Inside her chest, the stubborn girl felt a knife enter her heart.

When Kathy glanced over, she sneered at her. Eager to cause more hurt, the blonde pulled the red-head in for a kiss. The knife in Hazel's heart tore through her insides and walked away, taking the vital muscle with it and leaving Hazel dead on the ground.

Humiliated, Tyler's sister moped back into her seat. Kathrine overheard the conversation and gazed sympathetically at her good friend. Then, she looked at Gill. Tyler glanced at Candace. Brooke secretly peeked at Luke. And all of them switched back to the three wenches.

Hazel gave a half-hearted chuckle. Her spirit was lifeless, but she lived on. A little humor was necessary right now.

"Hey guys," each person turned, "are we making friends or enemies?"

* * *

**Too many words. My hands are sore from typing! But what you probably want is the pairings. If you read the chapter (which you SHOULD) then you can probably guess what they are, but let me be redundant anyway. **

**Oops, Wrong High School Couples  
**

**1. Hazel X Owen  
**

**2. Tyler X Candace  
**

**3. Brooke X Luke  
**

**4. Kathrine X Gill  
**

**Explanations: What I mean by explanations is why certain personalities were paired with one another. Like Hazel and Owen for example. Hazel's a tough, stubborn chick and Owen's a tough, stubborn guy. No explanation needed. **

**You might feel like I took Julius, gave him a makeover, and transformed him into a surfer dude appearance... guy. But that is not true! I made Tyler much more fabulous! *gets bitch slapped by Julius* Ow. Moving on.  
**

**People are probably most curious about why I paired the quiet shy girl with the rowdy carpenter. The truth is that I really wanted Luke to be with someone who wasn't loud and obnoxious (not that other Luke story characters are bad, I'm just picky). I mean, think of Luke looking out for an insecure sweetie. So cute!  
**

**Finally, there's the nerd and the female nerd (which, by the way is based off of me). In my last story, Gill was the love interest, but I kinda... forgot the whole storyline, so I wanted to give Gill some love here, being the Gill fan girl that I am. I felt that, since they were both really prideful and studious, neither one would get along with the other at first.  
**

**Things will get more lovey-dovey in later chapters, so stick with me. There will also be lots of drama with the three she-devils and... spoiler alert! If you read this whole author's note... wow. Thank you so much for your time! Peace.  
**


	5. Tensions Grow

**Since my other chapter was so long, I decided to shorten this one a little. Hopefully, this way I can post chapters quicker. **

**By the way, I do not own Harvest Moon at ALL! Thank you.  
**

* * *

After their eventful first day, the rest of the week was pretty boring. Things on the farm were slow, but steady. Cain was kind enough to give them a free cow- once the hole in the barn was patched up thanks to Luke- and now, a small black calf named Noodle became apart of the family. Also, the field had been cleared out of all its junk, so a few strawberry, potato, and grass sprouts filled the area once again.

The four friends felt very proud of their work. None of them had any experience what so ever with farming, so the fact that they already had something growing on the plot and a happy calf in the barn was a great feeling.

School was another thing. Don't get me wrong, each of their grades were just fine- especially Kathrine's, being the nerd that she is. The problem was the people at Harmonica High.

Against all odds, a lot of people actually really liked the newcomers, despite wrecking their lighthouse. Luke and Bo were the closest with the group. Brooke took quite a liking to Renee as well, and while Kathrine made friends about as easily as a cat makes cheesecake, she found that Phoebe was just as clever and intriguing as she found herself to be. Tyler made friends with this really odd… guy named Julius. Apparently, they both shared an interest in fashion.

Now, onto the trouble makers. No, not Hazel. I mean people who were doing everything in their power to make the four friends life in school a living hell.

The main contributors were Selena, Luna, and Kathy- newly dubbed 'the she-devils'. For some unknown reason, the she-devils took an extreme dislike to the group, especially to the girls. Selena became prone to dropping food items like a klutz on Brooke almost everyday. Luna would criticize Kathrine's 'distasteful outfit' when ever they passed in the hall. However, for Kathy, all she had to do to torture Hazel was to keep Owen on a leash and make out with him every five seconds and boy was it working!

"If she kisses him one more time, I swear I'm gonna-" Hazel threatened through clenched teeth as she watched Kathy pull Owen into another embrace.

It was the Monday of the second week of spring. The group was attempting to eat their lunch, along with Luke and Bo, while watching the 'All-you-can-puke' channel at the she-devil table. Hazel was shooting a thousand daggers at Kathy, but she was too preoccupied with her boyfriend.

"Hazel, you need to calm down," Kathrine nervously said. "She's just trying to get a reaction out of you."

"What do you know about it, Kat?! You just have an annoying junior insulting your clothing, while I have a bitch making out with the future Mr. Hazel!" Hazel fumed.

Kathrine sighed. "Don't disregard the fact that I have more than one rival on my plate."

That brought Hazel back enough to face her friends again. She'd almost forgotten about Kathrine's own boy trouble.

"Right, Gill."

Another supplier of displeasure to the gang was, of course, the pompous fool known as Gill. While Hazel, Tyler, and Brooke only had class with Gill in English and/or science, Kat shared the same schedule with him all school day long. As expected, their similar personalities had caused a catastrophic wall of intense loathing to build between them.

Gill found it baffling that an intelligent girl like Kathrine could hang out with simpletons like Hazel and Luke. Slightly surprised by the future mayor's compliment, she still didn't back down and began questioning Gill's intentions. Secretly, Kathrine admired Gill's drive to become mayor, but despised his attitude. It would be a miracle for these two to finally see eye-to-eye.

Brooke suddenly realized something. "Hey, where is Gill anyway? He's not at his table."

Luke took notice as well. "Oh yeah, you're right. He's probably at the library. Gill sometimes eats his lunch in there while doing 'future mayor stuff'."

"Oh, so he's a bookworm too," Tyler teased. "You're like his long lost fraternal twin, Kat."

"Whatever," Kathrine grumbled, blushing as she went back to her book.

Unexpectedly, Hazel jumped up on her chair.

"She's kissing him again," she whispered dangerously. "Maybe I should strike her across that all too used kisser of hers. It might knock a little common sense into her. 'Cause otherwise I'M GONNA KILL HER!"

Quick as a lightning bolt, Tyler grabbed his twin's waist with Bo holding onto her legs before she actually caused some damage. Hazel was making it nearly impossible to not make a scene. Kathrine and Brooke continued to sit, very confused and frightened by their friend's sudden blow up. Meanwhile, Luke was shouting out random questions in an attempt to distract Hazel.

"Hazel, is that a new haircut?!"

Nothing. Hazel's eyes burned with hatred.

"Lemme' go! Lemme' go!" the girl demanded.

"Uh, how's the farm going?!"

"You tramp, taste my fury!"

Luke started running out of ideas. "Uh, Hazel um… do you… uh what's, uh… what does your father do?!"

Scared, the carpenter shielded himself. Luckily, that question caught Hazel off guard.

"What?" Hazel asked. She ceased her struggle with Tyler and Bo, causing them to collapse on the floor, exhausted. Still a little angry, Hazel slammed down on her chair and pounded her fist. "No one here has even talked about my parents. They only want to know about the ship accident. Why do you want to know about them?"

The words took a few seconds to reach Luke's brain. "Um, well… you four were traveling to Japan before your boat exploded, so… your dad must do something really impressive to be able to afford that!"

As Hazel puffed out her chest, Luke gave a sigh of relief. Tyler secretly flashed him a thumbs up.

"Well, actually, yes!" Hazel stated proudly. "My father is a brain surgeon! Only the best can do that. Plus, my mom is a mechanical engineer, so we are pretty well off!"

Hazel smiled like she just blew her friends away. Tyler rolled his eyes, seeing as they shared the same parents yet his sister acted like he didn't even exist. Luke, on the other hand, was just glad (and impressed) that he got Hazel to calm down.

"Wow, that's really cool!" Luke admitted. "All my dad does is stand behind a counter and stare at people until they crack and buy something."

Brooke giggled. "You make your dad sound really scary."

Luke's eyes widened dramatically. "He is scary! Once, when me and Bo were having a pillow fight in the middle of the night, he came crashing into the room yelling 'Who's making all this racket!' and Bo stopped fighting and wet his pants!"

At this point, Luke toppled over, laughing hysterically, and was quickly joined by Hazel. Bo's face darkened to a violent red.

"LUKE! You said you weren't going to tell anyone!"

Luke sat up for a second and hiccupped. "Oops."

With that, he went back to cracking up on the floor.

Desperate to change the subject again, Bo turned to Brooke. "So, heh hee, what do your parents do?"

"My dad doesn't like to stay at one job too long. Currently, he's working as a book store employee," Brooke explained shyly.

"Oh, that's neat."

Luke at last finished laughing at Bo's embarrassment. With some difficulty, he wiped the tears out of his eyes and choked out a sentence.

"So- *hiccup*- what about you, Kat?" Luke asked. "What do you parents do for money?"

Tyler and Brooke held their breath and bit their lip, while Hazel nearly slipped off the table again. All three of them became really nervous and tried to tell Luke to ask a different question without alerting Kat. However, Kathrine persisted to read her book, though it appeared as if she was more of staring at the words than taking them in now.

Without even moving her gaze, Kathrine spoke with little emotion. "I don't know."

Brooke flinched at Kat's tone. Since they were the closest, it appeared like she saw what was going to happen next before it did.

Luke, nonetheless, was clueless. "You don't know? Ah, come on Kat, they're your parents! You're smart, there's no way you haven't heard about it."

Kathrine tensed. "It's been awhile since we've talked about their work."

Just before Luke opened his mouth, Tyler waved his hands around to stop him. As dense as ever, he shrugged it off.

"What? Your parents don't talk about their jobs?" Luke taunted. "Come off it Kathrine. You don't need to be embarrassed by it. We all shared. Just tell us what they do."

Though Luke was oblivious to it, Kathrine's grip on her book grew tighter. Only her forehead was visible and it was turning a shade of purple.

Luke had one last go. "Just tell me! Or are you too humiliated to say their jobs? Did you forget? Have you been on this island too long?" His voice became more and more mocking. "Come on, Kat! Remember your parents!"

Swiftly and abruptly, Kathrine leapt out of her chair. "I'm done with my lunch. I'll see you guys in science," the girl choked.

Before anyone could stop her or see her face, Kathrine rushed out of the cafeteria.

Hazel licked Luke on the arm.

"Ow!" Luke cried as he rubbed his shoulder. "What was that for?!"

"For being so dense, you moron!" Hazel growled.

Luke raised an eyebrow. "All I did was ask her what her parents' jobs were. I didn't know she was going to run out of the room. Why did she do that anyway?! You should be mad at her for being overly dramatic!"

Teed off, Hazel snarled at Luke, but no words removed themselves from her mouth. An epic glare off commenced between the two. It didn't come to a crashing halt until Brooke eventually raised her quiet voice.

"Luke… Kathrine's an orphan."

All was silent as Luke realized what he had just done.

* * *

Darting down the hall, Kathrine was having a mental battle with herself.

"_Why did you freak out like that? Even if he was being annoying, you've been through this situation before."_

Kathrine bit her lip. Sadly, it was true. So many times she'd been asked about her parents at school. The kids didn't know. Yet every time, she ended up running out of a room, looking like a complete idiot and drama queen.

"_Look, you can't change the past. They made their choice all those years ago. Why haven't you moved on?"_

Gradually, Kat began to slow her legs into a normal pace, confident that no one was following. However, she didn't reply to herself with an answer. Instead, it was another question.

"_Do you really still believe in them?"_

Now, Kathrine could feel the tears falling. Mad at Luke, the school, but mostly herself, the girl wiped her salty tears away. As an alternative to yelling at a voice in her head, Kathrine yelled at herself.

"Why do I still think about my parents?! Why do I believe that they will come looking for me?! And why do I still love them so much?!"

No one was around to hear her, which is what she wanted. Bitterly, Kathrine fell to her knees and wept more tears in one minute than she had cried in her whole life.

This wasn't like her. Kathrine was supposed to be serious and not fall victim to petty emotions. That's why school became so important to her. It was a place she could better herself in. If she did everything she could, life would open itself up to Kathrine. She would be able to move on from that miserable orphanage to something useful.

Kathrine _would_ be useful, so she made some rules for herself.

Her number 3 rule: School was a place for learning, not for socializing… and definitely not for emotional break downs.

Yet, here she was: alone, confused, upset, and fighting to pull herself back together. Except, unfortunately, she was wrong about being alone.

"Who, in the world, is yelling out here," a cold voice questioned.

Every muscle in Kathrine's body stiffened. Her hands, thinking quickly, disposed of each harsh tear on her face. A wave of loathing flowed through Kat like a river.

Somehow, she had spirited towards the library without even realizing it and she recognized the tone of the one that spoke all too well.

A large, blond curl came into view. It was Gill.

* * *

**How was that? Tell me if you think this chapter is too short. Also, I will take ideas on things to do to the story, so feel free to suggest some. More to come!**


	6. Fights

**Here's the next chapter. I wanted to say that I know Kathrine's freak out seems like it came a little early, but I have a LOT planned for this story, believe me! Also, I'd like to mention that I do not hate Kathy, Luna, or Selena. For the sake of the story, I made them sound like total jerks and stuff, but they are just jealous of the attention the four are getting.**

**Hazel has quite the mouth at one part, so remember this is rated T for teen.  
**

* * *

"Oh goddess I feel bad," Luke sighed.

Brooke put a reassuring hand on Luke's shoulder. "It's not your fault. You didn't know. Kathrine will be fine, just give her some space."

Around the lunch table, the humorous aura had been ripped off and switched with guilt. After watching Kathrine run off, no one had much to say. Luke felt the most responsible.

"Damn, I shouldn't have pushed her," Luke grumbled. "Me, of all people, should know what it's like to lose a parent."

Luke threw his hand down on the table. He arched his eyebrows.

"But I can't imagine losing both my parents. How did they die?"

Brooke and Hazel hung their heads a little (Tyler went off to find Kat). Slowly, Hazel raised her head and scowled.

"Kathrine doesn't talk about her past," she explained. "She always says that as long as there is a future, the past is unimportant. But we do know one thing…"

Hazel looked Luke straight in the eye. There was so much sadness and anger built up at the same time. The school year had just started and Luke already felt like he found a new side to his friends.

"Kathrine's parents," Hazel continued, "are not dead."

"What?"

The girl rolled her eyes like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Kathrine isn't an orphan 'cause her mother and father died. She's an orphan 'cause they abandoned her when she was nine."

Luke clenched his fists. "That's… horrible."

"Yeah and she's really embarrassed by it or something 'cause Kat wasn't the one who told us. We found out when we followed her to the orphanage she lived at."

In Luke's silence, Brooke got up. "Kathrine's just so proud about things. She's always been a perfectionist, so the fact that her own parents left her probably eats her up inside."

Before Luke could respond, Tyler returned in defeat.

"I couldn't find her anywhere! I search all the rooms and hallways. But Kat's probably in a girl's bathroom so don't make me go in there!" Tyler confessed, holding his hands up.

A small chuckle was heard from everyone, returning a little bit of light. However, a certain she-devil decided to rain on their parade.

"Oh," Kathy cried, faking sympathy, "why did your little friend run off like that? Is she hurt?"

"Beat it Kathy!" Hazel snarled.

Kathy sneered at her, now acknowledged that she was upset. She began tapping her finger on her cheek.

"I hope it wasn't because of anything Luna said. You know she doesn't mean it, right?"

The pity in her voice became so false that it sounded like a bad actor doing a soap opera. Hazel was practically shooting fire out of her hands.

"If you think… I'm going to believe that… then you're stupider than you look."

Kathy narrowed her eyes and leaned in real close. Both blondes glowered at each other, neither one backing down.

"Watch your mouth," Kathy warned. "We run this school you know, and you four aren't here for the nicest of reasons. I could easily have you expelled."

"Is that a threat?" Hazel laughed, eager for a reason to punch something. "I'm not sure if you're trying to be scary or just cheesy. Then again, I wouldn't have expected anything else from a dumb, fake blonde like you."

This time, something snapped in the 'fake blonde'. In one swift, fluid motion, Kathy yanked Hazel down on the ground and put her in a head lock. Hazel screamed and bit her on the arm. Both girls pulled and tugged at hair, limbs, and other, more awkward areas.

The whole of the cafeteria swarmed towards the cat fight. Selena and Luna were shouting battle tactics to Kathy, while most other girls cried for them to stop. The majority of the guys, however, were cheering and causing a din.

Tyler, a more refined man than the others, was attempting to reach his sister and knock her back to her reasonable senses. Brooke stood in the corner, horrified at what she was watching.

"Woo!" Luke yelled. "Cat fight! Fight! Fight!"

He turned to Brooke. One look at her terrified expression shut him up. He quickly shielded her from the violence.

"Sorry about that. This is horrible, you shouldn't watch," Luke cooed, secretly smiling as he saw Hazel pull up Kathy's shirt.

The battle would have raged for hours if a large, familiar red head hadn't intervened. Luke's best friend, Kathy's boyfriend, and Hazel's crush lifted both girls off their feet.

"Owen!" Hazel screeched, embarrassed.

Not pleased with her actions, Owen sneered at her. Hazel blushed and hung her head. Kathy, on the other hand, wept at her savior.

"Oh baby! I'm so sorry you had to see me like this! That terrible urchin jumped me for no reason!" Kathy lied. "I was merely defending myself."

"What?!" Hazel screamed. "You dirty-rotten, lying, slutty, bitch! You attacked me!" She turned to Owen. "She attacked me after your jerk of a girlfriend insulted my friends!"

"Grrrr!" Kathy made a grab for Hazel again. In response, Hazel pushed forward to falcon punch the she-devil. Luckily, Owen was stronger than both of them combined and deflected both their attacks.

"Enough." Owen's voice was so deep and annoyed that the two girls fell over in surprise.

Before she could recover, Owen forcefully pulled Hazel up and glared right into her eyes, sending a fearful chill down her spine.

"You haven't been at this school or this island long enough to be picking fights. You should be grateful for the mayor's hospitality. I'll let this one slide, but the next time will be your last."

With that, the miner strolled away like nothing had happened. Every student in the lunch room quietly returned to their seats. Kathy was furious, though. She didn't get to witness Hazel being expelled or brutally injured. Enraged, she stomped off after Owen to give him a talking-to.

However, Hazel continued to lock her legs in place. It was one thing to be threatened by an enemy and rival, but it was another thing entirely to be threatened by a crush. She was utterly humiliated and depressed.

Eventually, the bell rang for four period and Hazel returned to life.

She had a new mission in mind. "Luke,"

"Huh?"

"Where is Owen's regular hang out and favorite thing to do?"

Luke fidgeted with his bandana. "Why do you want to know?"

Hazel's eyes sparked with mischief. "It's time to show him that I'm more than just a troublemaker."

* * *

"Oh, I should have known better than to leave the library," Gill sighed. He folded his arms across his chest in disappointment.

Kathrine didn't show anymore love than he did. After drying her tears, she straightened herself and placed her hands on her hips, desperate to not look like an idiot in front of anyone else.

"Of course, it doesn't surprise me that you're the one yelling," Gill said in his bored tone.

At his comment, Kathrine frowned and blushed slightly. Silently, she prayed to the goddess that he didn't hear anything she said. Thankfully, Gill eased her mind by asking:

"What in the world were you yelling about?"

Kathrine exhaled. "None of your business, pompous. What were you doing in the library instead of the cafeteria?" she questioned, although she already knew the answer.

"If you must know, I was doing paperwork. It's not easy being the mayor's son. There are a lot of duties and requirements that uncivilized people, like your friends, could never pull off."

Kathrine gritted her teeth. "My friends are not 'uncivilized'."

Amused, Gill smirked. "You know, you've always made fun of my goal to be mayor and you've never told me want AMAZING thing you're working towards as a career."

"Once again, it's none of your business. And I don't make fun of you for wanting to be mayor. I just think it's unlikely."

Gill froze. "My father is the current mayor. How could it be unlikely for me to succeed him?"

"Maybe it's because you're nothing like him."

His cheeks darkened. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Kathrine turned her nose up. "People like your father. They think he's a great mayor." She lowered her head enough to glare at Gill. "But you're not like him. You are so different from him. I've talked to a lot of people and they all agree-"

"Don't say it!"

She raised her voice. "They all agree that you will never be a good mayor like him! You're rude, cold, pompous, and antisocial! No one wants you to be mayor! Try taking a different approach when it comes to people because you are failing miserably! You'll never be mayor of this town!"

Every inch of Gill's normally pale face transformed into a violent red and his cold blue eyes shot more electricity than ever before. Realizing what she just said, Kathrine lost her confidence. No one, not even Gill, deserved to hear that.

"Ho-how dare you," Gill stuttered dangerously. "You ha-have no idea how mu-much work I have p-p-put into this."

His eyes began to water. Kathrine started to comprehend that, out of anger, he was close to tears!

Suddenly, Gill grabbed her hand. "You shouldn't say things that can get you into serious trouble with your superiors!" Gill spat, spewing fire and hurt with every word. His grip tightened on Kathrine's hand. "I could easily go to my father at the mayor's office and have you kicked off this island ri-"

He stopped abruptly. His hand migrated to his cheek where a red print grew more and more apparent. In her panic, Kathrine had slapped him.

The grip of Gill's hand loosened enough for her to move again. However, both were shocked at what had just transpired.

Kathrine gasped and covered her mouth with her palms. "I-I-I didn't mean t-to-"

Her words were lost somewhere in her throat. Even if they were audible, it wouldn't have mattered.

Gill pushed her aside and darted out of the hall, leaving Kathrine feeling worse than ever.

* * *

The next day, Gill didn't come to school. He hadn't even shown his face during the last period the other day. Everyone was concerned.

"Sissy boy never misses school," Luke explained. "Once he had the flu, but still came to school despite the chance of making other people sick. His father eventually forced him to go home, but not before he got all his homework."

Their fellow science classmates nodded.

"Why would he stay home when the year has just started?" Renee wondered. "I hope nothing happened to him."

Kathrine fidgeted with her pencil and buried herself in her work.

"_I can't believe I said such horrible things to Gill. Being mayor is his lifetime goal and I crushed it. How would I feel if someone told me that my writing was horrible and that I could never be an author?"_

Kat sighed. _"I let my pride cloud my judgment. I need to set things right… but how?"_

"Kat?"

"Huh?"

Snapped out of her thoughts, Kathrine looked up. Brooke was staring curiously at her. Kathrine realized she had been chewing on her pencil.

"You've been kind of… preoccupied lately," Brooke said.

"Sorry, I've just been a little distracted."

"It's about yesterday, isn't it? Your fight with Gill?"

Kathrine's eyes widened slightly. It was just like Brooke to be able to read her mind, but no matter how many times it happened, Kathrine was still amazed.

Brooke smiled. "I won't tell anyone. You keep my secrets, I'll keep yours." Then Brooke raised an eyebrow in worry. "What are you going to do?"

Confused about that question herself, Kathrine gazed down at her blank worksheet. What could she do to fix things?

All of the sudden, an idea came to her mind that caused Kat to swallow hard.

She bit her lip. "After school… Brooke, I'm going to be busy, okay?"

A wide grin appeared on her friend's face. "Okay. Oh, and Kat, can I ask you a question?"

Kathrine knitted her brows together. "Yeah, sure."

Brooke blushed. "Luke wants to take me into the Fugue Forest after school to gather lumber. I thought, since our house is so small for four people, collecting lumber and material stone for upgrading the house would be a good idea. Can I go?"

The whole time Brooke said this, she played with her hair. A faint smile graced Kathrine's face.

"Since you like him so much, go ahead."

Brooke beamed. All too quickly, she pulled Kat into a crushing hug.

"Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! I'll go tell Luke!"

With that, she skipped off to Luke's table. Rubbing her neck, Kathrine sighed once more. She saw their teacher, Hayden, staring at her, laughing.

She flushed a light pink. _"Finish my work, and then worry about this afternoon." _

* * *

"I can't believe you're going to talk to that jerk," Hazel complained.

Hazel, Tyler, Brooke, Kathrine, and Luke were all standing near Sonata Tailoring, finally finished with the school day. Kathrine had just explained her plan of action. Hazel felt she didn't need to cheer up the blockhead and was protesting against it.

"It's not like you're the reason he won't come out of his room!"

Kathrine was silent. She was gazing at the large house that the mayor and his son lived in. In one of the rooms there was Gill, locking himself away from humanity for who knows how long.

Guilt built up in her chest even more so. "You're not going to stop me, you know. Even though his is a jerk sometimes, Gill shouldn't be separated from everyone else."

Luke laughed and shrugged his shoulders. "But he likes being away from everyone. He's just a big baby."

"I think it's a great idea," Brooke spoke up. "Go on Kathrine. Don't let Hazel stop you."

Kathrine smiled at her best friend. She wouldn't have anyone else have her back.

Hazel groaned. "It looks like you've made your mind up. Fine, just go." She grinned slyly. "At least it'll give me some time to go with my plans. But keep in mind," Hazel pointed her finger at Kathrine; "if that boy hurts you in anyway, call me. I'll give him a thing or two to remember."

Kathrine giggled. "I don't think I'll need that, but thank you for your support."

Confident again, she turned around and waltzed right up to the mayor's house.

Luke turned to Brooke. "We better head off too. Don't want it to get dark before we get to the forest!"

Brooke nodded. However, Hazel became real serious and pointed at Luke instead of Kat.

"You better have her back home before I go to sleep, or you'll be sorry boy!"

She pounded her fists together. Luke flinched, causing Brooke to laugh. They both walked towards the bridge, Luke a little uneasily.

Hazel looked at Tyler. "You got any ideas?"

Smiling innocently, Tyler put his hands behind his back. "I have some business to take care of in the Sonata Tailoring."

"Going to check out your girlfriend?" Hazel taunted.

Instead of being embarrassed, Tyler made a dramatic flare of his hands. "Soon to be girlfriend you mean. Au revoir soeur!"

Tyler opened the door to the tailoring and disappeared.

Hazel pumped her fists. No one was around to stop her on her mission.

"Time to woo the future Mr. Hazel!"

* * *

**By the way, 'Au Revoir Soeur' means 'Good-bye Sister'. Tyler knows a little french. ;)**

**The next chapter will be split between the four, since they are all in different places. Please comment an tell me how I'm doing!  
**


	7. Relationships Are Complicated: Part 1

**Hey look! I'm back! It only took a few months. *facepalm* Sorry about that. I got a little bit of writer's block on this chapter (I'm doing four different view points! Oh my gosh, it is death!). Plus, I started another story. But, here I am again! :D**

**Now, this chapter was supposed to be for all of my characters, but it would have been very long and very time consuming. I figured I'd cut it a little short, but this means I'll be able to put up the next chapter pretty quickly. So... that's a plus! **

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon in anyway! Just my OC's. **

* * *

Kathrine took a deep breath. "You can do this. Just swallow your pride and apologize."

She tried to ease her nerves before she set foot inside the Mayor's house; a place Kathrine was sure was going to kill her. Nothing like saying you're sorry to a guy you wish would just drop dead!

With another breath, Kathrine knocked softly on the door. Almost immediately, the mayor swung the door off its hinges in excitement.

He beamed at his visitor. "Miss Norris, how lovely to see you. How's the farm going?"

"Fine, thank you sir," Kathrine fidgeted a little, "Um, I'm actually here to see Gill."

The mayor's face fell. She secretly prayed that Gill hadn't explained anything about why he's upset. Luckily, Mayor Hamilton guided her in, so it didn't seem so.

"So you've noticed his strange absence," Hamilton sighed. "I'm sorry, but he refuses to talk to anyone at this moment, not even me! Gill's always been a loner, but skipping school is not like him at all."

While listening, Kat glided around the house. It was so big! The living room was about twice the size of the friends' whole farmhouse. The furniture was very elegant and classy looking. Everything was completely tidy and in its place, something Kathrine missed after she started living with Hazel. Several pictures and décor hung on the wall.

Then Kathrine turned around. Across the hall stood two bedroom doors; one was leading to Gill. Kathrine crawled to the door that had 'Gill's Room' hanging on it.

"I mean," Hamilton continued, "I'm his father, but sometimes he acts like he doesn't need me."

She inched towards the doorknob.

"This outcast nonsense has gone on for so many years now."

Still half listening, Kathrine reached for the handle.

"I just wish… I just wish he stopped blocking everyone out and had some friends."

Now, Kat gripped the doorknob tightly.

The mayor cleared his throat. "I don't think he'll give you permission to come in."

Kathrine smiled weakly. "With all due respect, I'm not going to ask for permission."

_Click!_

The knob turned and Kat flew in before anyone could object.

* * *

"Wahoo! Look at how that one fell!" Luke shouted.

Both he and Brooke were standing deep inside the Fugue Forest. Luke decided to teach Brooke the 'proper' way to cut down trees. However, it looked more like mauling trees than chopping them to her.

She wasn't too comfortable in the dark, damp forest at the moment. Every rustling noise made Brooke jump and shiver. But being the _gentleman_ that he is, Luke didn't even notice. Too busy swinging at bark. This behavior went on for one or two… hours.

Finally, Brooke used as much nerve as she could muster- which wasn't a lot- and cleared her throat to catch Luke's attention. The wild, blue-haired boy swung around, nearly taking Brooke's head off with his axe. The blade lightly gazed her fiery hair as she dove to the ground in fear, snipping off a few helpless strands. Unable to do anything, Luke's cat-like eyes widened, watching as his gleaming axe cut through the air and scared his crush out of her wits.

"AAAAAAHHH!" Brooke screamed bloody murder.

"BROOKE!" Luke shouted, horrified by what just happened. Before the sharp edge could reach her slender neck, Brooke, luckily, dropped to the ground and held her head in a fetal position. However, the incident seemed to traumatize her and her whole body shivered. The carpenter could hear faint sobs coming from inside the ball-shaped figure.

Desperate to comfort her, Luke wrapped his monkey arms around Brooke. "I'm so sorry," he whispered. "I wasn't thinking when I turned around."

Brooke ceased her crying, but continued to quiver. This was another nearly fatal accident to add to her list. It had barely been a week since the ship wreck/explosion. At this rate, Brooke would be dead by summer time. The thought cause her stress to build.

Sensing her panic, Luke tightened his embrace. Not much was said for a few minutes. The boy simply stared off into space, rocking Brooke slowly to calm her down. Most people didn't know this, but Luke was _very _caring and gentle when he wanted to be. However, the other kids just saw Luke as a crazy, careless boy who only wanted to hack down trees.

"_Not true. So not true." _Luke thought crossly. He looked down at Brooke. After a several minutes, her face had reappeared, tear-stricken and terrified, but still beautiful. She cuddled closely to Luke, rubbing her cheek against his chest, and sighed quietly. This action made the boy blush like mad.

"_At least no one is around to see us. I don't even _want _to think about what Bo would say… or my dad no less." _

Eventually, following what felt like an hour of silence, Brooke spoke up.

"Sorry…" she murmured.

"For what?" Luke asked, "I'm the one who should be sorry."

Brooke shook her head softly, tickling Luke's nose with her hair. "You didn't mean to. I know that."

"That's no excuse for scaring you," he sighed.

For awhile, only the sound of crickets chirping could be heard. A loud rustling of leaves told the couple that the wind was picking up. A small shudder ran down Brooke's spine. Without Luke noticing, the girl snuggled even closer to him. A light smile emerged on her lips.

"You're warm."

To this notion, the carpenter reddened like the sun. Brooke was _so_ sweet and _so _kind and _so_ damn adorable. He couldn't let her go.

"Thanks," Luke remained lost in thought until he realized the whole reason he was here with Brooke. "Um… you know… getting lumber wasn't the real reason I brought you to the Fugue Forest."

Brooke reluctantly crawled out of Luke's affectionate embrace and raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, I wanted you alone," Luke continued, "so I could ask you a very important question."

Now thoroughly interested, Brooke pulled her knees up to her chest and smiled eagerly. Her expression looked just like one of a kid in a candy store. "What's the question?"

Swallowing hard, Luke tried to clear his now awfully dry throat. "Brooke… would you… uh… I mean if it's not too much trouble… would you go… maybe to… the… um,"

As Luke stumbled with his words, Brooke sat quietly and admired the cute little wrinkles that formed on Luke's face when he thought too hard. She had seen them many times when he was asked a math question. It never ceased to be endearing.

With Brooke smiling dreamily at him, Luke smacked his forehead and threw himself upwards like something had just bit him on the bum. "BrookewillyougototheFlowerFe stivalwithme?!"

He said this whole sentence without a breath. Shocked out of her admiration, Brooke stood up slowly and carefully. Innocently, she pulled her hair back behind her ear.

"What?"

The flustered boy bit his lip and exhaled. "This Saturday the town is celebrating the 'Flower Festival'. It's a time to reflect on spring's beauty and to look at all the pretty flowers and stuff. It's also customary to bring a… date to the festival. I wanted to bring you out to the forest so that I could ask you in private as _well _as help your friends with the house. So," Luke began twittering with his thumbs nervously, "will you go with me?"

During the explanation, Brooke stood stock still, not daring to move a muscle. Once the word 'date' came out of Luke's speed-of-light mouth, every thought in her head was history.

Suddenly, a hue of pink showed up on the girl's cheeks. "I would love to."

"Really?!" Luke questioned, mouth gaping.

Brooke nodded fiercely, still blushing with a bright smile.

The next thing that happened, Luke didn't seem to have any control over. Ecstatic by her response, his legs took on a mind of their own and raced towards his new date. Like every muscle decided to control themselves, Luke's arms lifted Brooke into the air. He spun around with her in his grasp several times, gazing up at her grass green eyes and violent red hair that flowed to the side, along with the wind. The entire time of her flight, Brooke laughed at Luke's expression. Nothing made her happier than seeing other people happy.

At last, Luke put her down, now quite dizzy himself. But he didn't care. Before exiting the forest with his new girlfriend, the excited carpenter latched himself around Brooke's tiny waist. Together, they would see the splendor of spring. Together, they would smell the sweet fragrance of newly bloomed flowers. Together, they would stand as a couple. But Luke didn't care too much about the actual festival. All he cared about was admiring the beauty of his own precious flower.

* * *

"Now this is my kind of place!"

As he waltzed into the Sonata Tailoring, Tyler gawked at all the beautifully arranged clothes stacked around the room. He had already been there before, but the store had been closed, leaving merely the skeleton of the store available for browsing. Now, the floor was covered in bright, colorful stands displaying even brighter outfits. A homely atmosphere filled the air.

Tyler flew towards a display case in the back that exhibited ballroom dresses. "C'est magnifique! Such fine craftsmanship!"

With burning passion, Tyler placed a delicate hand on his heart and twirled throughout the store. "It would only be a dream come true to work in such a refined place such as this! Perhaps the Goddess smiled down upon me and, risking whatever the costs, guided me to this lovely little island! Oh, if only my friends and I didn't have this debt hanging like a clothesline over us. Maybe then I could make something of this incident and become the fashion designer I've always dreamed to be!"

Tyler sighed longingly. "Maybe…"

As he pressed his fingers against the glass of the display cases and let the silence sink in, Tyler perked up at a soft clicking sound coming from further into the tailoring. It acted as a reminder of his mission. With sketchbook in hand, the boy crept into the back of the building, uninvited- inside he was nagging himself about it-, and set his sights on the blue blossom that was Candace.

Quick as a flash, Tyler began outlining a model of her body, which was seated comfortably in a small desk chair, and took to the task of designing his crush. The whole point of his voyage was to create a drawing of Candace so that he could be so kind as to devise the perfect outfit for her. Most would call that a little creepy, but this is Tyler we're talking about.

Unfortunately, her body was turned away from the artist, causing several complications in the sketch. Desperate to fix the problem, Tyler tiptoed forward ever so slightly as to hopefully land a good angle for drawing. While doing so, he finally took notice of what the quiet girl was working so diligently on.

Candace was knitting. She was knitting with elegant wool. And not just a small sock or scarf either. Candace was knitting a wool sweater with numerous tiny figures in the middle.

Captivated by her talent, Tyler forgot all precautions and sneaked right behind his crush, transfixed by the graceful movements. Candace could feel his warm breath on her thin neck. The sensation sent goose bumps all down her body. However, before she could reel her head around, Tyler did something very stupid.

"Why that's beautiful!" he shouted, right into Candace's ear.

The unsuspecting girl shrieked and fell off her chair, landing with a loud 'thump'. Tyler, realizing his mistake, was quick to escort the lady back to her feet, apologizing profusely.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to startle you miss! Please let me help you."

Once Candace was back on her feet, though, she scampered behind her bed and clung to the wall.

"W-why are y-y-you he-here?" she stammered, "My… gr-grandmother didn't in-invite anyone inside."

Her words were so quiet and tiny that Tyler could barely process them. However, it took no time at all for Candace to realize who was at the foot of her bed.

"Y-you're that H-Hazel girl's br-brother! T-the one th-that helped her f-f-fight Kathy!"

"What?! No no no no! I was trying to stop her from attacking that girl Kathy!" Tyler explained. Despite his clarifications, Candace trembled at the sight of him like he was about to jump her without warning. Tyler tried his best to soothe her. "I'm not like that! Please, I only wanted to see you and… your beautiful designs! Please under-"

"Get out!" she whispered.

Tyler's mouth fell to the floor. "What?"

"Please just get out!" Candace muttered, even quieter than the first time. Like a dam had just burst inside her, tears began leaking none stop out of Candace's eyes.

Now, Tyler came to the understanding that the poor girl was terrified of him. His crush was scared of him!

At this, Tyler did all he could do: he dashed out of the Sonata Tailoring. Outside, the sun was setting across the horizon. Everything was painted with a little bit of red coloring. This lovely show of nature's beauty would have surely awestruck Tyler under different circumstances. But not this time.

Sweat from the stress of the situation built up in his pores as the boy sat on the edge of the bridge, thinking about what to do next.

Suddenly, anger boiled like a steaming pot inside of him. His teeth clenched and his fists tightened into balls. Fire burned in his icy blue eyes.

"Hazel…" Tyler muttered, "It's your fault." He banged his gritted hands against the bridge. "Just like every other time, it's your fault Hazel."

A single, anger-filled tear fell into the water under the bridge. Tyler took his palms and placed them atop his head, cradling it as he cried this single tear bitterly. "The world is cruel."

* * *

**Uh oh. Looks like Tyler's a little mad at his sister's behavior. How will he ever win Candace's heart if she's too scared to give him the time of day? And is Luke and Brooke's relationship as perfect as it seems? We will see. :)**


	8. Relationships Are Complicated: Part 2

**I AM SO SORRY! Seriously, I did not intend for this to take so long! But school is evil!**

**Oh well, in about a month it will be summer! Wahoo! So more time for writing, which means more regular updates. Yes!**

**Now, this is the second part of the "Relationships Are Complicated" chapter since each character is in different places. I am NOT doing that again! Dividing that up to where it feels right is hard! Any who, for those who have stuck with me in my delay, thank you and on with the story.**

**DISCLAIMER: I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT FOR MY CHARACTERS: HAZEL, TYLER, BROOKE, AND KATHRINE**

* * *

Hazel most definitely had no idea what she was doing. There she was at Garmon Mines, bumping her clueless head against stalactites, trying to think of a good way to impress her dream guy, Owen. Once Luke explained that he usually hung out in the lower mines, searching for ores to use in the Blacksmith, Hazel decided to just race right over there without any actual plan. Perhaps, she thought, something would just come to her.

Apparently, though, ideas don't work that way for Hazel, which irritated her to no end. This was supposed to be the scene where she proved her awesomeness to the guy and convinced him to dump his bitchy girlfriend. After all, if Hazel didn't like your girlfriend, then you needed a new one.

"Hah!" the blonde laughed. "I practically quoted a song!"

From that point on, Hazel began humming "Girlfriend" by Avril Lavigne. In her immersion of the song, the girl even started tapping along to the beat. What people didn't know about Hazel was that she was an amazing dancer. She could waltz and square dance very well, but most of her talent was in hip hop and break dancing. Hazel wasn't your average teenage girl.

At sometime in her boogie, Hazel had pulled out the hammer that Ramsey kindly gave to the four friends and took a lot of her anger from Kathy out on the weird boulders inside the cave. It was not until she noticed a faint red glow from under the rubble of a rock she so mercilessly destroyed that Hazel realized that, even without trying, she was mining!

"I'm learning how to mine!" Hazel gleefully shouted. "Now I can show off my skill to Owen and when he realizes how similar the two of us are, he'll totally ask me out! Ha, in yo' face Kathy!"

Excited about her plan, the girl retrieved the iridescent red stone and shoved it inside her rucksack. She would ask Owen what the thing was later. For the time being, Hazel bided her time by smashing every rock in her way. Occasionally, she found another small rock inside and quickly threw it inside her bag. Once, she even found the stairs under a boulder.

"Now how'd that get there?" she giggled.

A couple hours past and there was still no sign of her lover, but that didn't rain on Hazel's parade. "Mining is so much fun! I see now why Owen does it so mu-"

_SMACK! _Without any warning, Hazel ran right into something big, blue, and very, very hard. Pain surged through her whole body. Luckily, the blonde knew how to keep her cool.

"DAMMIT!" Hazel rolled over in pain, her palms covering her injured nose. "OH MAN THAT HURT REALLY, REALLY BAD!"

Still fuming, she removed her hands from her face. The first thing she noticed was blood. A _lot_ of blood. With no change in expression, Hazel gazed up at what had hit her.

The mysterious object was nothing more than an oversized rock. A few drops of her blood, worn by the boulder as a battle souvenir, taunted her with red eyes as they slowly dripped down. Hazel rose from the ground gradually and sneered at the giant rock. Without breaking eye contact, she wiped her bloody nose on her sleeve and gripped her hammer.

Fire burned in her eyes. "TAKE THIS YOU STUPID ROCK!"

Hazel began pounding over and over again at the very place she smacked into. Despite the attacker being just a boulder three times her size, she desired the sight of the horrible creation of nature in little pebble pieces all on the floor. With each blow, a tiny dent formed on the rock's side, but it would take hours before Hazel could get even half way through.

But the girl wasn't going to give up that easily. As sweat poured down her already rather dirty face- she stirred a lot of dust when she fell- her breathing grew heavier. Hazel was making such a ruckus that the girl didn't notice a figure looming in the corner of her eye.

"Ahem," the masculine voice interrupted, "Are you alright?"

Hazel whirled around; hammer still in hand and eyes shooting flames. She saw the person flinch, but also took note of the red hair, ripping muscles, and sleeveless black shirt. Her eyes widened.

"O-Owen!"

A dark red blush lit up on Hazel's cheeks. Immediately, she threw her hammer inside her rucksack and attempted to clean up her sweaty, grimy face. This was not how her never-planned plan was supposed to go. Instead of her looking like a beauty with excellent manners, Hazel appeared like a hobo with anger issues. How humiliating.

Suddenly, Hazel felt strong hands grasping her chin. When she gazed up, she met a pair of piercing gray eyes.

"What's wrong with your face?" Owen asked worriedly. "Why is there blood on it?"

Hazel sensed her cheeks heating up once more. "Oh yeah, about that, um… I kinda was so wrapped up in my mining that I uh… ran into this evil boulder right here. Nothing too serious though."

At her explanation, Owen grinned a little and then snickered. His snickering became much louder until he finally was throwing his head back, roaring with laughter. Hazel nervously giggled too, but was so embarrassed that it was not a real laugh.

"_Oh great, he thinks I'm an idiot. So much for the future Mr. Hazel." _

Hazel sighed and quietly wiped her face clean of all the dusk and blood. Owen, still hooting with laughter, realized how unusually silent she was- everyone at school knew how loud Hazel really likes to be- and ceased his chuckling.

"Were you trying to destroy that rock?" he questioned, attempting to avert Hazel's mind from her humiliation.

"Yeah," Hazel gruffly explained, "The thing gave me a bloody nose. What do you expect me to do?"

Chuckling slightly, Owen shook his head. "You're a long way from being able to break this boulder," he said, patting the rock.

Hazel glowered at him. "Oh really? Then what do I have to do before I can?"

"For one thing, your hammer is old and needs to be upgraded."

"Ha! That's not going to happen for awhile! Last I checked, upgrading takes money and currently me and my friends have a little debt hanging over our heads. Plus, we're working on a farm, something that none of us have any experience with! So, money's a bit tight."

Owen raised an eyebrow. "I seem to remember you telling people that your parents are rich and even bought the very boat that exploded off our coast. If they really are as well-off as you say, then why don't they pay your debt?"

Groaning, Hazel threw her head back in frustration. "My parents think the destruction of your lighthouse was one of my pranks gone wrong, so they wouldn't pay me a cent. They feel sorry for Tyler, Brooke, and Kat, though, and constantly say how 'irresponsible it was of me to drag they into this mess'. Apparently, working to pay off the debt will 'help me learn some things about responsibility' and all that junk," Hazel complained, quoting her mother and father.

As the girl crossed her arms and ranted about how 'uncool' her parents were, Owen stared sadly at her aggravated eyes. They were such a lovely shade of brown; a hazel color to be exact. Unfortunately, all her anger hid the beauty. Owen couldn't stand to see anybody so upset.

"Don't worry about it."

Hazel froze and ceased her raving. Confused, she gazed at Owen like he was the most interesting thing in the world. "What?"

"Don't worry about the whole lighthouse thing. I can tell that you didn't do it on purpose and no one here's going to hold a grudge against you forever."

Hazel shook her head furiously. "I don't care about people holding a grudge against me. But I hate seeing people mistreat my friends for something they didn't do."

Owen smiled warmly. "So that's it…"

"What's it?"

"You have very intense loyalty to those you love. That's why so many people like hanging out with you: they know you won't let them down," Owen laughed gently. "Loyalty is a trait I admire as well."

A soft expression formed on the miner's skin, melting away all the anger he held for Hazel just earlier that day. Hazel, on the other hand, didn't smile, but flushed the same color of a morning robin, stunned by how sweet Owen was being towards her now. Her heart gave a little flutter. For a few moments, the two simply stared at the other.

Finally, beginning to blush as well, Owen cleared his throat. "So, you said that you went mining a little?"

Snapped out of her daydream, Hazel nodded excitedly, determined to show her love how much they have in common. "Yep! Look at what I found!"

Flinging her backpack to the ground, Hazel swiftly dug through the hurricane that was all her stuff.

"_Ugh, I really need to clean… I really need to get Kat to clean this. Wait here it is!"_

Hazel yanked out the large, misshapen rock that she found deeper in her mining trip. All of it was a dark, dull gray, but that didn't dampen Hazel's spirits.

"See? Isn't it pretty? I think it is iron!"

As Hazel grinned with enthusiasm, Owen scrutinized the ore with his sharp stare. Eventually, he sweat dropped and smiled sheepishly at the girl.

"Uh, actually this is junk ore," he explained, stepping away slightly in case Hazel decided to bite. "As its name implies, this ore is practically useless."

Owen cringed, preparing for Hazel's freak out. However, when nothing came after him, he opened one eye warily and saw a disappointed girl looking down sorrowfully at her find.

"Oh, I thought I really found something useful…" she whispered.

Suddenly feeling guilty for ruining her excitement, Owen put his sturdy hand on her shoulder. "Now don't tell me that's the only thing you found."

Hazel quickly perked up and rummaged through her bag again. Within a couple minutes, the two discovered that she had mined five junk ore, three iron ore, two copper ore, a silver ore, and even a red wonderful which are supposed to be really rare.

Owen was very impressed. "For your first mining trip, this is a very good hull!"

Pumping her fist, Hazel smiled with glee. "And it was really fun too! Oh," she reached down and handed the silver ore to the boy, "Here, have this."

Owen's eyes widened both in surprise and gratefulness. "You're giving this to me?"

"Well, yeah," Hazel giggled, "I heard that you like ores and I had so much fun finding it that I don't mind. If Luke hadn't told me that you hung out here I wouldn't have even come, but I'm glad I did, so you can expect me to be back to mine more of these. And um," Hazel blushed and gazed pleadingly at the redhead, "maybe we could mine together sometime?"

Owen stared disbelievingly at how kind the feisty girl could be. He could sense her good heart and gladly accepted her gift. "I would love to mine with you."

"Really?!"

"Sure! It's my job anyway," Owen exclaimed. "Plus, I'll cut you a deal."

Hazel nodded her head eagerly, gawking at Owen with unblinking eyes.

A sly grin crept onto Owen's lips. "If you help me mine at least three iron, copper, and silver each, I'll upgrade your hammer to silver personally and without charge."

Hazel gasped and lunged onto her crush, forcing him into a tight hug. "Yes, yes, PLEEEEEASE!"

Laughing, Owen returned her hug, feeling as if he found a new best friend that he could depend on. Hazel, however, felt like she just made a big leap in her plan to win Owen's heart.

"_Just you wait Kathy, you slut. This time next year, Owen will be mine!"_

* * *

"Go away."

Those were the first two words spoken to Kathrine once she step foot inside Gill's all too messy room. Papers were strewn across the floor, causing every footstep to crunch like dead leaves. Books were in piles along the corners, most toppled over. And right across the room, hunched over in a desk chair, was the mayor's son himself, frantically glancing through papers.

His normally clean cut blond hair was a rat's nest ending in a persistent curl like always. Gill's sweater vest appeared to have several spots of dirt on it, with one sleeve hanging off his shoulder. Once Kathrine reached the desk, she noticed how red and bloodshot Gill's electric blue eyes were. From his appearance, the lad looked like he hadn't slept in days. However, it had only been one day, so something told the girl that he had been crying, perhaps a lot.

A lump of guilt clogged Kathrine's throat as she attempted to speak and all the air in her lungs seemed to disappear. Before any words could escape, though, Gill repeated himself.

"I said go away," the mayor's son snapped, glaring at his paperwork.

Kathrine jumped slightly at his tone, but took a deep breath and swallowed her pride. "I came to say… I'm sorry… for everything I said before."

Without even glancing up from his pile of work, Gill scoffed. "Oh, is that really what you came here for? Because it sounds as if you don't even mean it."

Like he had just slapped her cheek, Kat's jaw dropped and her fury seethed. "I did nothing but feel guilty today because of what I did to you and you have the gall to just brush me off?! Don't you have ANY-" Kathrine cut herself off, clinching her fists and taking deep breaths to calm down. The last thing she needed was another outburst. "I'm sorry for yelling. I truly am, but what do you think I would come out here for besides to apologize?"

"Oh, I don't know. You said that you felt guilty. Maybe you simply wanted to ease your conscience and move on with your life," Gill sighed, all while staring tiredly down at his documents.

Surprised by how much sense his words made, Kathrine remained silent and stared at her shoes, her head lowered in shame. The guilt inside her became suffocating.

Gill elegantly twirled around in his chair, a look of victory on his face. "It seems I have hit dead center. You don't really want to apologize. You merely want to rid yourself of the guilt you feel inside."

Kathrine didn't raise her head. Every word seemed true and every time she realized that, it stung worse than a hornet. How could she be so selfish?

Suddenly, tears welled up in Kathrine's eyes. A terrifying realization entered her mind and engulfed her body. It was happening. Kathrine was becoming… like… her…

"No."

Gill lifted a single eyebrow in confusion. "Hmm?"

"No! That's not true!"

From her cries, the arrogant boy leaned back in shock in his chair. "What are you screaming about?"

Trembling from shame, fear, and grief, Kathrine's head shot up and she glared tearfully at Gill. Her gaze was so full of hate and regret that Gill almost felt bad for his harsh words. _Almost._

"What is it? Spit it out!" he demanded.

"That's not true, Gill," Kat explained, wiping the terrified tears away and regaining her composure. She knew that what he said and what she feared were not accurate, so she shouldn't be afraid or ashamed. "I truly am sorry. I regret what I said yesterday. None of it was right."

Gill wiped the look of surprise off his face and scowled. "How can you be so sure? You seemed to mean every word that ran out of your mouth! Even I have begun to believe it…"

Kathrine shook her head like crazy. "Every word was false! I told you that people thought you would be a horrible mayor, but each person on the island, even Luke, agrees that you know exactly what you're doing!"

The blond's eyes widened. "What did you say?"

Kathrine ignored him and continued. "And it was hypocritical for me to call you 'pompous' and 'antisocial'. Really, I can tell that you kind and can be social. Plus, those two characteristics describe me pretty well too," Kat laughed lightly.

Gill gawked at the girl in front of him. "You think I'm kind?"

Kathrine half smiled and nodded. "Nothing I yelled back at school was true. It was all lies." She connected her chocolate eyes with his electric blue ones. "You will be the greatest mayor this town has ever seen."

Now completely taken aback, Gill's jaw dropped to the floor and his eyes were the size of dinner plates. This time, however, instead of a question coming out of his mouth, a red blush appeared on his cheeks.

With one last thing to explain, Kathrine breathed in slowly. "To be completely honest, I said all those horrible things because I was jealous. I was terribly jealous of how ready you are for your future. You're just so…" She paused, searching for the right adjective to describe the mayor's son, her voice filled with admiration, "So… perfect."

Like she just kissed him on the cheek, Gill flushed an even darker red and gaped wordlessly at the girl complimenting him so passionately. His anger and depression seemed to wash away like the waves on a shore.

With each passing second, Kathrine grew pink in the cheeks as well and fiddled with her fingers. "I mean… what I mean by that is that you have everything planned and never mess up. I can tell that the island's future with you as mayor is very bright. And when I think about how unprepared I am for my future, I get insanely envious and defensive, which is why I insulted you like that for no good reason. So what I'm trying to say is don't give up on your dream to be mayor just because a stupid person like me opened their big mouth."

Before Kathrine could stop herself, she flung her arms around Gill and forced him into an uncomfortable, but sincere hug. Blushing like mad now, Gill stood stalk still and, at a snail's pace, twisted his skinny limbs around the girl's waist. There was several seconds of awkward silence until finally Gill spoke with no anger, disgust, or confusion.

"If there is one thing I've learned from watching you at school, it is that you are far from stupid, Kathrine. I apologize as well for my rude behavior and for my threats. A bright woman like you deserves more consideration than that."

Kathrine beamed with delight at his lovely compliments as she released him from her grip. "You don't have to say you're sorry. It was my fault for the whole misunderstanding."

"Yes, but that does not mean I can get away from forgetting my manners around a lady," Gill clarified, "Besides, I should apologize for insulting your friends as well. I judged them before I got to know them."

"And I judged you before I even knew how gentlemanly you are," Kathrine's smiled grew wider and her eyes sparkled with gratitude. "You know we're more alike than I could have even imagined. Do you think we could be… friends?"

Upon hearing her proposal, Gill stared down at his feet, attempting to hide his crimson cheeks. However, he ultimately glanced up from the floor and locked eyes with Kat, smiling gently. As the silence continued, Gill took the time to appreciate how dazzling the young woman's orbs were. Like a doe's, Kathrine's eyes appeared to hold all of nature's beauty in one shade of brown. They were without a doubt stunning. And that was the truth.

Gill nodded. "It would be my honor to be friends with someone of your esteem."

Kathrine's lips turned upward so fast it was like the smile was never gone. "Thank you!"

* * *

Not an hour had past since Miss Kathrine had entered Mayor Hamilton's son's room, when a sudden click of a doorknob caused the mayor to jump in his comfy chair. His eyes darted towards the door where he was astonished to find both Miss Kathrine AND his son Gill happily leaving the dark room. The two appeared to be chatting about some school related topic when Hamilton noticed a light smile gracing his dear son's lips.

The mayor grinned with glee. _"Kathrine, I don't know how you did it, but it would seem that my boy has a new associate!" _

The clearing of a throat made the mayor snap out of his thoughts. His eyes darted towards the entrance where Miss Kathrine stood, gripping the knob.

"Thanks you letting me drop by Mayor Hamilton," she politely expressed. "I should return to the farm now, though." The young lady switched her gaze to Gill and her eyes appeared to shine like evening stars. "See you at school Gill!"

With that she waved goodbye and left without another word. The mayor bounced out of his seat and stared excitedly at his lad. Catching his father's eye, Gill raised an eyebrow.

"Do you need something father?"

Mayor Hamilton merely squealed, startling his son to say the least. "You're blushing!"

"What?" Gill felt his face and noticed how unusually warm it was. He was indeed blushing and it had only happened when one person was around.

The red spread further along Gill's cheeks as he made the connection. Hamilton clapped his hands together.

"Oh, I never thought this day would come! You've finally have found your girl!"

Gill's jaw dropped. "Father I barely know her, don't get ahead of yourself-"

"I must get my camera to remember this moment!" the mayor interrupted, racing into his bedroom, leaving his only son in the living room, embarrassedly slapping his forehead.

"_Dear Goddess, why did you have to give me a father like this?!"_

* * *

**The Next Day: Cafeteria**

"Hey have you guys seen Kathrine?" Hazel asked.

"Nope."

She shrugged. "Okay."

* * *

**Library**

Searching through the treasure-trove of book shelves, Kathrine beamed when she finally spotted what she was looking so tirelessly for. In the corner of the library, seated with perfect posture, was Gill scribbling notes on a piece of paper. An expression of slight urgency rested on his face.

Curious of what he was so focused on, Kathrine strolled closer and leaned in behind him, careful not to disturb his work. Not yet, at least.

Eventually, when Gill gave no sign of noticing her, Kathrine eagerly questioned, "What are you working on?"

Like a bee stung him on his rear, the blond boy leapt several feet in the air. He swiftly spun around and glared at who had interrupted his concentration, only to soften his expression when he realized it was Kathrine. Still, however, Gill huffed.

"You didn't have to sneak up behind me you know."

Kat winked slyly at him. "Oh I know, but I couldn't resist scaring you a bit. You have the cutest reactions."

Gill reddened somewhat and turned his eyes down, attempting to focus back on his work.

Now only more curious, Kathrine cocked her head. "You never answered my question. What are you working on?"

"Preparations for the upcoming Flower Festival."

Kathrine's eyes lit up. "Wait; you mean you're organizing the whole festival?"

"Yeah," Gill furrowed his eyebrows, "Why?"

"That sounds like a lot of fun!" Kat squealed. "Hazel calls me a nerd for it, but I just love organizing and planning things!"

Despite his annoyance of her shrieks, Gill chuckled. "Me too, but festivals are a lot more work than most people expect. My father helps with some of the work, but lately he's been pushing me to do almost all the arrangements to practice for when I become mayor."

A sigh passed Gill's mouth. He rubbed his still faintly bloodshot eyes, causing Kathrine to lift an eyebrow.

"Is something wrong?" She asked with concern.

"Well," Gill bit his lip, "I am having a bit of a problem with Marimba Farm."

Kat nodded for him to go on.

"You see, each year we ask them to grow a certain amount of flowers in time for the festival, but, for whatever reason, their harvest, last I checked, is severely lacking in the amount the town needs. I tried to explain this to Craig, Marimba's farmer you know, but he insists that I counted wrong and will not listen to reason."

As Gill pinched the bridge of his nose, Kathrine tapped her cheek, deep in thought.

"I would ask my father to talk to him, but since he wants me to deal with all of the festival demands alone, I'm afraid that he will think I'm not ready for this position. And if my father does not think I'm ready now, I might not become mayor once I graduate," he continued, growing increasingly more flustered by the minute. "But if I do not have the correct number of flowers on the 14th, then my father will surely be disappointed, as will the rest of the islanders."

Another stressed exhale proceeded from Gill's lips. Kathrine gazed sympathetically at her new friend, her eyes expressing how much she wished she could help.

Suddenly, the clever girl snapped her fingers, her eyes glistening with new found hope. "What if I talked to Craig?"

Gill, who propped up his head with his arm leaning on the library desk, nearly fell over at her suggestion. "What?!"

"Well, you see," Kathrine explained, "Since I am working at a farm, I have become quite familiar with both the Marimba Farm owners and the Horn Ranch owners. I understand how to talk to Craig and can get him to see things my way, or in this case, your way."

Like she was the most intriguing being on the planet, Gill gawked at the girl, his blue eyes unblinking and broad. "You would do that?"

Grinning, Kathrine nodded.

Nevertheless, Gill shook his head vigorously. "I cannot ask you to do that. I need to figure these dilemmas out by myself. What kind of mayor would I be if I had someone else do my work?"

"Your dad does the same thing!"

"Huh?"

Kathrine rolled her eyes. "Just a few days ago, Mayor Hamilton asked Brooke to talk to Luke about his crazy tree chopping habit and how he needed to slow down before the whole forest was destroyed. Even though he was the mayor, your dad knew that Brooke would be better suited to calm Luke down. There's nothing wrong with asking for a little help."

Even so, the mayor's son did not look convinced. Kathrine decided to try one last time.

"Look, we both know that you do not have the best people skills. Don't deny it!" Kathrine shouted, pointing her finger right in Gill's face before he could interject. "But that is where I'm pretty strong! Sure, my people skills could be better, but that's not the point. The point is that while you're sorting things out and making sure everything is in order, I can just do you a small favor and do the more social aspect."

"Plus," Kathrine added, noticing how Gill's eyes began to show minor interest, "I could teach you how to deal with each islander as we go until you don't need me anymore. It's not like a ruining your chance to become mayor. In fact, I feel that I'm helping. So, do we have a deal?"

Digesting her words carefully, Gill eyed Kathrine's slender hand that lay outstretched for him to take. "So you're saying that from here on out, until I can handle the social portion of running a town by myself, you'll help me with my people problems?"

"Well," the girl muttered sarcastically, "I won't help you with any dating issues, but other than that, yeah. So what do you say, partners?"

As her brown orbs sparkled with excitement, Gill continued to ogle Kathrine's hand suspiciously. Finally, when he noticed how pleading her expression was, Gill sighed and shook on it.

"Partners."

Kathrine grinned from ear to ear and hopped up from her seat. "Great! I'll talk to Craig after school today." She practically skipped towards the door, only stopping to give Gill one last eager smirk. "And if all else fails, I'll personally grow the flowers myself! I've always got a back-up plan. Bye Gill, see you later."

"Uh, yeah… bye," the boy uneasily replied.

As he heard the library door slam shut, her last few sentences still rang in his ears.

"_You've always got a back-up plan, huh? I have to admire a girl like that."_

* * *

**Could there be something new between Gill and Kathrine? And what about Owen and Hazel? Will Hazel be able to beat Kathy in the race for Owen's heart? Or will Hazel be alone for the rest of her angry life? We'll see soon enough!**


	9. The Flower Festival

**OMG! I am so sorry for the wait! I have been working on this chapter for a long time, but I just never finished it! Plus... I recently discover the anime "Fullmetal Alchemist". O_O An obsession was born.**

**Anyway, thank you those of you who waited. I have a fairly long update here and I hope it's good! It will go into first-person p.o.v. instead of third-person, so I'm sorry if it gets confusing.**

* * *

**Hazel's P.O.V.**

Before we knew it, the Flower Festival was upon us.

"_Wonderful," _I thought.

I may dress in skirts and colorful t-shirts, but I am most definitely a tomboy. Flowers just don't interest me. Sure they're pretty, but after looking at one for two hours, I get bored.

Not to mention that there was no one else with me. As I scanned the church grounds where the festival was being held, I felt a twinge of jealousy at all the couples and realized how lonely I currently was. Brooke was sitting with Luke on their blanket, knitting flowers into her date's wild blue hair- I was quite shocked when I learned that Luke asked her out, but then again I also expected it sometime. Kathrine was conversing with Gill about how _lovely _the flowers turned out to be and how _magnificently_ the festival was going. I think they were even discussing preparations for the next event! Sheesh, they need a different hobby, however I was happy for Kat gaining a new friend, even if it was the mayor's pompous son.

But, as for me, I was slumped over on my blanket all alone, gazing halfheartedly at the cherry blossoms gently falling from the trees as the wind blew. To make matters worse, I was just in earshot of Owen and Kathy. The two were chatting gleefully, but all I could hear was the dumb blonde's shrill and aggravating laughter. I think she planned to be so close to me, to probably torment me and enjoy my loneliness, the wicked she-devil.

Regrettably, there was only one person I felt was even more miserable than I was during the Flower Festival. My twin brother, Tyler, had been sulking all week. My guess is that things didn't go well with him and Candace, but every time I tried to ask what happened he would give me this evil glare like I gave away his kitten or something. I don't know what I did- I hadn't pulled a prank on him since we came to this island- but I swear that his stare was an attempt to use some secret freeze ray because Tyler's eyes were never that cold!

A sudden realization struck me like lightning. "Where is Tyler?" I asked myself, waving my head around trying to see if he was hiding. For some reason, even though he loved flowers, my twin brother was nowhere to be seen.

"Are you looking for your date, Hazel?"

At the feminine voice, the hairs on the back of my neck stuck straight up as I stiffened, expecting my least favorite blonde to be right behind me, smirking at my forever aloneness. However, once I spun around, I discovered not icky Kathy, but the Marimba Farmer's daughter Anissa. Her brown eyes were warm and caring and I recognized her from her black locks that reached her mid-back. From a few days ago, I remembered seeing Brooke and Kat discussing seed growth or something with her. Anissa was one of Brooke's good friends along with Renee.

I shrugged, deciding that she was alright, and gave her a sarcastic smile. "Nah, I don't think I need a date to look at some pretty colored flowers. Actually, I was curious if my brother Tyler was around here somewhere."

Beaming gently, the farmer girl held her cheek in her hand like she was thinking. "Hmm, well I wish I could help, but I don't know your brother very well. Usually only your friends Brooke and Kathrine come to buy seeds. Did he come here with you?"

"Now that you mention it, I don't even remember seeing him at the house before I left. Brooke left with Luke pretty early to go chop down trees before going to the festival and Kat was gone with the mayor and his son almost all afternoon to set up the whole thing. I stayed behind until it was festival time, but Tyler wouldn't speak to me at all!"

I pulled my knees up to my chest, relaxing my chin on them as I strained my brain to figure out what was going on with my brother. "He's been really… I guess you could say, moody lately. I think he's mad at me for something, but I don't know what."

Apparently concerned for my dramatic sibling, Anissa's eyes were soft and caring as she quietly lowered herself next to me. "I hope he's not having a hard time adjusting to Castanet. I think he would really like it here if he just tried to look past being stuck here."

"It is kinda hard to look past the fact that all four of us are trapped on this stupid island because we have to pay a debt for a lighthouse that we didn't even break," I moaned.

Right as my words ran out of my mouth, I quickly felt guilty. With one look at Anissa, I knew I should have kept my mouth shut. Her face was horribly saddened. Inwardly, I smack myself. Whether my anger was justified or not, I couldn't just let an insult like that sit.

"Sorry, I didn't mean it," I mumbled. After hearing my apology, Anissa gave me a small smile. Deciding that it was best to change the topic, I casually placed my hands behind my head. "Soooooooo… do you have date with you? I mean, you asked me if I had one, so it's only right that I ask you the same," I explained with a smirk.

Personally, I had a feeling that the farmer girl would say no. Sure she was sweet, but Anissa was too sickly sweet for my tastes. This is probably why I never attempted to get to know her better. I mean, Brooke could be too sugary sweet as well, but boy does she have her moments! Brooke is actually really cool once you discover more about her!

"Why yes! Actually I do!"

I nearly fell over. "What?!"

From my disbelief, Anissa flushed pink a little. "Yeah I know, it came as a shock to me too."

Now I was thoroughly interested. "Don't leave me hanging girl! Who is it?"

"Jin."

My face fell so fast that I think I pulled a muscle in it. "Wait, what?! You asked that jerk out?!" I screamed. Even after being stuck here for two weeks, my distaste for four-eyes never faltered.

As I found out, Dr. Jerk was only a year older than me- meaning, thankfully, I didn't have to deal with him at school- but he was the very person who proposed that me and my friends be forced to stay on the crummy island to pay for the creation of a new lighthouse! Well, I'm sure you can imagine that I was _not _too pleased with him.

However, in the back of my head, I felt a twinge of empathy for Kat. It was blatantly obvious that the brunette had a huge crush on the doctor. Heck, when I tried to complain about him forcing us to stay she smacked my shoulder and told me off like I was a child! Despite her aversion for being trapped on this island for no good reason, Kat refused to allow me to insult such a 'hard-working and mature young man', quote on quote.

Now as much as I huff about it, I wanted my best friend to eventually find her man and be happy. But if someone like Anissa swooped in and snatched the very guy Kat liked, I had a feeling she would not be able to love twice. She could barely love one time.

"Man, I can't believe that you would actually ask four-eyes out!" I growled.

Anissa appeared shocked by my sudden anger but blushed all the same. "Actually… Jin asked _me_ to the festival."

My heart dropped into my stomach. I gazed sympathetically at my best friend Kat. I noticed Gill suddenly leave for some reason, but what really caught my attention were Kat's brown eyes lighting up like stars. She had seen her crush, Jin.

I shook my head as I watched her race towards the black-haired man eagerly, abandoning her little blanket that she had shared with Gill.

"_Oh, poor little kitty," _I thought, using my extra nickname for Kathrine, _"You're in for a world of broken hearts with that man." _

* * *

**Gill's P.O.V.**

_Okay, first off I would like to mention that I was right about Kathrine; she is indeed unlike any girl I have ever met. Second, our little friendship is merely for business! I don't actually like the foolish city girl! _

…_Well maybe a tiny bit. I'll admit to Kathrine being much more mature and intelligent than most people in Harmonic High, which means I can stand her company. But as soon as she is finished teachin- uh, _reminding_ me of the proper way of social interacts, our 'friendship' will be a thing of the past. _

"Hey!"

I jumped a little at the feminine voice, swiftly closing my journal before anyone could see my newest entry. Next to me, giggling at my reaction was the very person I had been explaining myself for: Kathrine. After she had finished assisting my father and me with the festival decorations, Kathrine insisted on sitting with me to discuss other festival arrangements. I guess I was happy to oblige seeing as every other girl my age got under my skin.

In all honesty, I enjoyed our conversation. Kathrine had many good ideas about what to do for the Animal Festival and even the Firefly Festival for later in the Summer.

However, Kathrine decided to switch the topic on me.

"So," she hummed, absentmindedly staring up at the star-filled sky, "What's your favorite flower?"

"Huh? That came out of the blue."

She rolled her eyes at me. "Not really, I mean we are at the _Flower_ Festival. If you want to improve your social interactions, you're going to need to just roll with the conversation no matter where it takes. I'm sorry to say so Gill, but you can't preplan a discussion."

Grumbling silently to myself, I realized that she had a point and sighed. "Flowers are a lovely decoration for a small amount of time, but they eventually wither and die, leaving a mess where they used to lie. In other words, I don't find flowers useful enough to have a favorite."

"You know, that was both very poetic and very morbid," Kathrine said. She gave me a small smile. "Tip number two for social interactions: don't drag the conversation down with depressing themes if you can avoid it. You will shut people out if you do so. Try remaining upbeat or at least neutral."

Aggravated, I pinched the bridge of my nose. "Very well, how about this? Kathrine what is your favorite flower? Show me how it is done."

"Lavender," she put simply.

I raised an eyebrow, slightly surprised that she neither snapped nor answered sarcastically. Instead, Kathrine replied with complete honesty.

"_Well, might as well 'just roll with the conversation'."_

I cleared my throat. "And, um, why do you like that flower?"

Suddenly, Kathrine's soft smile vanished. Her gaze switched from the sky down to the ground as she avoided my eyes. As if I had inquired about something personal, the girl seemed to be pushing me away.

However, Kathrine still continued to answer. "My mother used to have this huge garden in our backyard. Since I was still just a little girl, she didn't like me trying to help as I usually messed up and killed her beautiful flowers. However, my father convinced her to give me a small patch of the garden as my own section. Both my parents helped me plant the seeds, but they wouldn't tell me what plant it was."

A tiny laughed escaped her lips as she recalled her childhood. "I used to spend hours just staring at the ground everyday, practically begging the seeds to sprout. My skills improved in gardening since I was so nervous about killing the seeds before they grew. Finally, after several weeks, the sprouts were fully grown and I awoke to a flower bed filled with lavender. Both my parents said that they were the most exquisite lavender plants they had ever seen since I had grown them myself. And since that day, lavender has been my favorite flower."

After her tale, I felt a twinge of understanding towards Kathrine. I had learned of her being an orphan from my father a while ago, but her story made it seem like she had the perfect family; not one that would abandon her some years later. The story even brought back memories of my own mother. She had loved to garden as well…

"You know, I thought tip number two was to _not_ drag the conversation into depressing themes," I remarked. At Kathrine's sudden gasp, I chuckled. "Then again, you did say you are a hypocrite."

Then, without warning, I felt a rather hard smack on my shoulder.

"Ow!"

As I rubbed the sore area, my eyes shot daggers at Kathrine who also had a very displeased look on her face. But when I was about to snap in some way, though, her face bloomed into a wide grin.

Before I could react, Kathrine flung her arms around me, still smiling like an idiot. My breath hitched in my throat and I could feel my cheeks heating up. Why did this always happen when Kathrine was around?!

"You're such a jerk!" Kathrine cried, oddly delighted. Her doe-like eyes met with my blue ones. "And I thank you for that. I started dwelling on the past when I should look to the future."

Thankfully, she let me go before anyone saw what had just transpired. I wiped the blush off my face and stared indifferently at a couple a few feet away.

"Uh, you're welcome I guess."

Beaming as brightly as ever, she shook her head at me and went back to gazing at the stars. It was then that I noticed the couple next to us had started laughing merrily. The man had just given the woman a flower of some kind. The girl appeared to be thrilled even though it was just a simple plant.

Glancing to the left, I took note of a bunch of lavenders right next to me. My blush suddenly returned.

"Uh… I'll be right back," I mumbled, not daring to look at Kathrine.

"Okay."

I tensely took several steps towards the lavender flowers, running my fingers through my pale blond hair like I do when I'm nervous.

"_Don't worry about what people will think," _I tried to reassure myself, _"It is the Flower Festival. No one will care if you give someone a flower. I mean, it's not like I actually _like _Kathrine; I'm just being a gentleman."_

I bit my lip as I slowly returned to the blanket I was sharing with Kathrine, lavender in hand. However, I never completely reached the blanket, for I had stopped just short of it, staring disbelievingly at my supposed "date".

Anger filled my veins as I threw the lavender down, its gentle petals crushed into the unforgiving dirt as the flower lost all its beauty and grace. Kathrine had left our blanket quite entirely and stood there, flushed in the cheeks, talking with Dr. Jin. All of a sudden, I was not overly fond of my date or the doctor.

* * *

**Luke's P.O.V.**

This Flower Festival had been the bestest Flower Festival ever. Not only did I have an excuse to goof off for hours, but I also had the prettiest date ever: Brooke.

There she sat right next to me, holding my head in her lap as she weaved tulips into my hair. For the moment, I didn't care if I looked unmanly. I was happy to just relax with my girlfriend.

Brooke was looking more beautiful today than any other day. Her fiery red hair had two small braids on the side, eventually connecting into one single braid down her slender neck. A blue morning glory was perched on top of her ear. And she was wearing a forest green outfit- seeing as she only dressed in one color everyday- that only made her pale skin and violent hair even more pretty.

Nothing could have ruined our happiness as we laughed and had the bestest time ever. Unfortunately, something did ruin our night.

"Hello River," a sly, sarcastic voice mocked.

Brooke averted her gaze at the girl who just appeared, a discomfited blush running through her cheeks. "Actually, Selena, my name is Brooke, but they're both bodies of water so it's all right."

The exotic dancer smirked cruelly and pulled the morning glory out of her hair. "Oh I'm sorry. Silly me. It's just that you seem to have a lot of water in your brain like a river, so I went with that."

As awesome as I am, I didn't quite get what Selena said, so I continued to ignore her. For the past week that was all I did when any of the three she-devils came around. Their attention was never on me so I didn't see why I needed to get involved. I was sure Brooke could handle her.

However, I didn't notice Brooke redden even deeper as she seeped the insult in. Unlike me, she understood what Selena had said.

As I continued to lie on my back, Brooke spoke with a quivering voice. "I-it's alright. Just t-t-try to remember that it is Brooke f-for next time."

Suddenly, Selena's smirk disappeared and she glowered at the little redhead. The morning glory in her hand became dust. "So are you and your_ boyfriend_ having a nice time?" The word boyfriend seemed to slide off her tongue as easily as acid slides down the throat.

Then, Brooke did something I did not expect. She held up her hands in a defensive fashion and shook her head furiously. "No, no, no, no, I'm not dating Luke! We're just here as friends!"

My eyes burst open as I shot up from my laying position. "What?!"

Selena appeared to take some enjoyment from this. "Oh is that so? Well, then I'll just leave you two alone to… talk about your relationship."

With that she walked away triumphantly, cackling the entire time. Once she was gone, I shot Brooke a questioning look. "We're not dating?"

"No!" she cried defensively. "You asked if I could go to the Flower Festival with you. I assumed you meant as a friend. Is that not what you meant?"

Her grass-green eyes stared pleadingly at my golden orbs, but I turned away and sighed, my fists clenched. "I can't believe you."

"_And I thought I was supposed to be the dumb one, but you obviously can't tell how I truly feel about you, Brooke." _

* * *

**Tyler's P.O.V.**

"Come here you foolish thing!" I begged.

Just outside Flute Fields, I trudged along moodily, chasing after our runaway cow Noodle. Even though she was just a baby, the black calf had a dangerous curiosity injected into her blood and could hardly sit still.

There had been several incidences where Noodle had scampered off while we were at school. Most of the time, we would return from Harmonica High to our house with an angry Hanna staring us down from our front porch, a tiny black calf in tow. Then, we would be in for an hour long lecture about being more cautious about our animals, Kathrine apologizing profusely, Brooke appearing close to tears, and Hazel pretend strangling Hanna each time she turned around.

This time, right before Hazel left for the Flower Festival, I noticed Noodle's absence and went out to search for her on my own. I wasn't about to ask for my sister's help. I made it blatantly obvious that I was ticked off at her. After all she had put me through in our childhood together, I thought that I could created my own life that was unaffected by my twin, but no, she continued to change and ruin my life. The episode with Candace proved that.

I sighed and attempted to wash away my rage. Despite it being a trait of my sister, I was not one to hold grudges. However, nothing helped when it came to forgiving Hazel. She had hurt me too many times.

"Oh, stop crying over your brutal sister," I said to myself. "You just have to suffer through a year or two more with her, until this debt is paid, and then you'll be free and can move away from her forever, so that Hazel never ruins anything again. Yeah, that sounds good."

I flicked my bright blond hair out of my face and continued to search the area for Noodle, as I lost sight of her when I tripped on some weeds. About an hour past, judging by the how far the moon had glided in the sky, and there was still no sign of Noodle.

Finally, a signal was sent for me to hear. "MOO!"

My head perked up and I abandoned the collection of trees I had been scrutinizing. It was then that I caught sight of a black blob cowering away from an orange tabby cat which hissed and swiped its tiny claws at her. A snicker left my lips.

"Oh dear little Noodle, you may be the most curious cow I have ever seen, but you certainly are _not_ the bravest."

I walked up to the terrified calf and shooed the stray tabby away. In an act of total hatred, the orange cat bared its teeth and spat with stick straight hairs on its back. It obviously was not pleased with my appearance. However, the cat ran away all the same, right back to Harmonica Town which I just realized was very close. Noodle had wandered off towards the beach next to the town, so I could just barely see the festival decorations.

"I wonder if they're all having a good time up there, Noodle." I sighed, petting the black calf tenderly on the head. She mooed contently in reply. "Yeah, they probably are, but you know that you are our first concern. Whether you like it or not, Noodle, the four of us are going to care for you the best we can, so I'm not going to let you run off again, okay?"

"Moo."

"I'll take that as a yes."

Chuckling to myself and at the fact that I was chatting with a cow, I gave Noodle a pat on the shoulder, telling her to follow me, and we began to stroll to the farm. That was until, however, we heard a quiet voice call out for us.

"H-hello?"

Startled, I spun around dramatically, my swooping hair falling onto my face. With a tiny flick of my neck, the hair shifted back into place and I saw a nervous looking girl, clothed in blue, gaping at both me and the calf. It was the tailor's eldest granddaughter, Candace. My heart skipped a beat.

"Why, hello Miss Candace," I cheerily greeted, hoping to make a better impression than last time, "What brings you out here when there is a festival just a short walk up the street?"

The tailor girl averted my gaze and fiddled with her shirt. "Um, w-well there was a l-l-lot of people at the festival this y-year. I stayed for a while, b-but decided to leave when it g-got crowded."

I smiled understandingly. "I have a distaste for crowds as well."

"R-really?"

"Oui, but with a twin sister like Hazel, it's crowded everywhere I go!"

I heard Candace giggle a tiny bit. A wide grin broke out on my face. I had a feeling that despite Hazel's reputation, I could still win the girl of my dreams.

With a little smile, Candace put her hands behind her back and drew circles in the sand. "I saw how y-you talked to your calf. I didn't know that you were good w-with animals."

I shrugged. "I'm not the best in the world- you should see how magnificent Brooke is- but I do enjoy my time with Noodle."

"Is that her name?" Candace giggled.

"Oui," I groaned, rubbing my head sheepishly, "I wished to name her Mona, but Brooke was the one who got her from Mr. Cain in the first place, and Noodle wouldn't listen to any other name after she was called that. So we were stuck with it."

As if I had said something wonderful, Candace's eyes lit up like holiday lights. "I love the name Mona! I named my pet silkworm Mona! It was just so pretty-"

Suddenly, the blue-haired girl lost her confidence and voice, stopping short of her sentence and ducking her head. I merely smiled softly and moved closer to the embarrassed girl. With a kind hand, I touched her shoulders and managed to get her to look me straight on. Her deep, sea eyes blinked a few times when they connected with my icy orbs before they darted towards the water, a pink blush appearing on her face.

The corners of my mouth curved up even more. "A lovely girl like yourself doesn't need to use words to express her emotion. Your eyes say it all. Remember that."

After my words began to register themselves to Candace, she tensed up and turned away. However, I noticed a rather large beam gracing her rosy lips.

My words touched her and that was what I was hoping for.

"Well, bye… Tyler," Candace called after me as I began to walk back to Noodle.

Smiling, I turned and waved goodbye, no other words needed. As she ran back to her home, I guided Noodle back to ours, skipping the entire way.

* * *

**Mayor Hamilton's P.O.V.**

For the first few hours, the Flower Festival went off without a hitch. The decorations were perfect, the blossoms were beautiful, and the night was like a fantasy. Every couple I saw, even my own son and Kathrine, appeared to be enjoying their time gazing at the flowers all around them and chatting about whatever was on their minds.

In fact, things were going so well that I did not even think twice about going to Town Hall to finish some extra papers I forgot about. I figured I could return without worry. Sadly, I was very wrong.

Once I came back from my short excursion, I found chaos! Almost everyone was arguing! Like the Harvest Goddess wanted to punish me for some unknown reason, the whole meaning behind the festival had been torn up and thrown away. Instead of tranquility and love, there was disorder and hate.

As usual, Kathy and Hazel were going at it (something about a bad taste in hairstyles), but even they knew to calm down during a holiday, so this behavior was shocking. Owen and Selena were bickering over goddess knows what! Luke and Brooke looked like someone had just died and simply exchanged each other rather ugly looks. Jin and Anissa looked like they _wanted_ to die. My own son Gill was having a heated conversation with Kathrine about her lack of respect, while Kathrine shot back how rude Gill was being himself. Even Toby and Renee were squabbling over how lazy the other was being at the time.

"How could this happen?!" I asked myself. "Never in all my years have I seen such a loss of compassion between people of the same age! If this continues, I fear that this island will have a lot of single and unhappy inhabitants."

To ease a growing headache, I rubbed my throbbing temples and sighed. What could I do to fix this?

Then, completely out of the blue, a brilliant idea came to me. It was exactly what these teenagers needed to learn more about each other and also maybe discover romantic feelings with the other. It could put an end to all the fight.

And I was going to put forth this plan the Monday the students return to school, whether they liked it or not!

* * *

**Ooo, what's the mayor got planned? You'll find out next chapter! ;P**


	10. Hamilton's Plan

**Dang! I was feeling pretty bad about leaving you guys hanging for so long that I whipped this chapter up real quick! It introduces the main problem for coming chapters and I got to tell you... this is when a lot of the drama and humor starts. **

**This is shorter than the last chapter, but I gonna keep writing until my fingers fall off! So enjoy what I have so far.**

**Disclaimer: I do not own Harvest Moon or any of its characters. I only own my OC's.**

**EXTRA NOTE: I am going on vacation for over a week and the laptop I have to write on is really, really bad. So don't expect any updates next week, but I will try my best to update the week after. I love all you guys who have been reviewing! :) I am so grateful for you taking your time to message me about your feelings on my story, so I will get out the next chapter as soon as I can! Until then, enjoy your summer.**

* * *

"So we all agree then?"

Mayor Hamilton sat at the round table in the meeting hall with all the teachers of Harmonica High, his fingers knitted together in eager anticipation. This scheme he had cooked up to unite the students of the school was foolproof!

At his question, the teachers nodded, most feeling pretty excited at the idea. A wide grin formed on the mayor's lips.

"Well then, meeting adjourned."

As the hand full of adults began to walk to the door, finally returning to their regular jobs, one depressed-looking man stuck out to Hamilton.

"Hold on Craig," Hamilton called.

The pessimistic farmer moaned and, with bored brown eyes, turned around back to the mayor. "Yes Mayor Hamilton?"

"I need you to take these note cards to lunch room while I make the announcement to the students," he explained, pointing towards a stack of small papers on the desk. "We need to pretend that we just drew them randomly from a hat or something, so that none of the students think we're pushing them to be with someone."

Craig raised an eyebrow. "But isn't that the exact reason you came up with this plan?"

"Yes, yes, but if they know that then no one will actually try to be friendly. Teenagers are a testy bunch."

The farmer snorted. "Tell me about."

With the stack of cards in hand, Hamilton carefully passed them to Craig. "Just don't mix them up! I already paired them how they need to be. When I ask for the note cards, simply give them back to me and act like the teachers just drew them. Got it?"

Still rather bored, Craig nodded, his mind somewhere else.

The mayor beamed with delight. "Good! I'll go set the plan in motion!"

With that, he raced out of the door, giddily laughing the whole. Once the mayor's plump body was out of sight, the Marimba farmer sighed. He would rather not have such a pointless job to do, but it was Hamilton's orders.

Unfortunately, as soon as he took the first step towards the doorway, Craig tripped over a chair and the note cards went flying all over the place. Pretty soon, they were strewn all across the room, covering the desk, chairs, and floor, like newly fallen snow.

"Oops."

Without much thought, Craig snatched every card up, pairing them together like they were before, except that he had no idea what the pairs were! So instead of taking the time to remember what couples they agreed on, Craig simply clumped them all collectively, praying to the goddess that it was close enough.

"I hope these didn't need to be in some special order," Craig nervously muttered, completely disregarding his and Hamilton's discussion.

* * *

"Wow," Tyler breathed, "I had no idea that the Flower Festival was such a disaster!"

The four friends were all slumped over in the cafeteria, Hazel, Kathrine, and Brooke each recalling what a mess the festival had been. Seeing as Tyler never attended, he merely assumed that everything went as usual for the island. Sadly, he was dead wrong.

"So, everyone started fighting near the end?"

Hazel pounded her fist on the table, her untouched egg salad that Brooke made jumping in the air. "Yeah, Kathy decided that it would be a good idea to insult my hair style, saying it looked like a dead pig did it," she growled. "I wasn't about to let that kind of rudeness stand… so I called her a slut."

Tyler smacked his forehead. Hazel never did know how to just ignore people and her methods to dealing with bullies usually ended with someone getting a black eye.

Kathrine was clasping her book so hard out of fury that the spine was bent. "I can't believe Gill! I finally thought I found a friend in him and he yells at me for talking to another boy!"

"Doesn't surprise me," Hazel said with a smirk, "He always struck me as the jealous type."

Unamused, Kat glared at her. "It's not funny. Unlike you three, I have a hard time finding common ground with Luke and Bo and everyone else. Gill was the first person I actually had fun being around," she seethed, not meeting anyone's eyes. "But then he goes and calls me disrespectful for _talking _to another guy when _he_ was the one who left me alone!"

Wordlessly, as Kathrine attempted to cool her temper, Brooke patted her best friend on the shoulder, her green eyes locked on Luke. The carpenter had been in such a bad mood the past few days- most of his anger directed at Brooke- that he insisted on sitting with only Bo and Owen, leaving Hazel, Tyler, Brooke, and Kathrine's table pretty vacant.

"I wonder what I did wrong when I was with Luke," Brooke mumbled, "He got so mad at me that he wouldn't even speak to me for the rest of the festival and he stumped off without walking me home like he usually does."

As Brooke sniffled, Tyler remained silent. He felt that this would not be the best time to brag about how his relationship with Candace was looking up, while everyone else's was looking down into the dirt.

Suddenly, there was a loud boom of a microphone. An incessant ringing that pierced the teens' eardrums erupted from the source. Everyone clamped their hands on their ears, some cursing as they did so. Eventually, the ringing ceased and the room was met with silence.

The jolly voice of the mayor cut through the stillness. "Good afternoon, students! Sorry about the technical difficulties. I'm not used to using these things."

A hundred irritated eyes fixed themselves on Mayor Hamilton who smiled sheepishly under all the reluctant attention. Before he could speak once again, though, a cold voice with a bored tone sounded from within the crowd.

"What is the meaning of this, father?" Gill complained.

Immediately filled with rage at the sound of his voice, Kathrine shot daggers and swords and other kinds of sharp objects at Gill with her eyes, to which he returned by shoot lightning bolts with his electric irises. Everyone around them scooted away a few steps, but neither of the two noticed. Feeling like this was a good time to interrupt, Mayor Hamilton cleared his throat. Both Gill and Kat ended their glare-off and blushed when they realized the attention they were receiving.

The mayor continued. "To answer your question, son, I have called all of your attention up here to announce a school-wide project!"

Several hums and grumbles were heard echoing through the group of students, but no one spoke up or argued. However, many appeared disgruntled at the idea of more homework.

"Here is the project, which will start immediately," Mayor Hamilton explained, "Each of you twenty students have been paired randomly with someone of the opposite gender. You will be required to get to know them better for two weeks. At the end of the two weeks, the two of you will present a project of some kind to show how you have related."

There was a short pause as everyone tried to take in what the mayor was saying. Many turned to their friends, mumbling inaudible doubts or interests.

"Oh and one more thing," All heads switched back to the mayor, "From eight in the morning to eight at night, the pair of you will be _obligated_ to stay together. If any adult catches a student away from their partner at any time between those hours, twenty points will be taken off your final grade for each time it happens. So if it happens twice, you fail the project."

Suddenly, an uproar of gripes and curses erupted from the teenagers. They were required to constantly be beside the same person for twelve hours everyday?! And they didn't get to choose who?! Obviously, no one was happy with the plan.

But, Hamilton had made his decision final. This would be the last major grade before Summer and many people needed this grade to pass. It would also hopefully make the students pair up into couples or at least get along.

"Quiet," Hamilton ordered, "I have already had the pairings made. Your teachers drew each of you names randomly and coupled them up." He gazed down at the man across the room whose eyes were wandering, cards in hand. "Craig has now brought the cards and I will call out who is paired with whom. Oh and I should mention that one duo is two girls seeing as we have more girls than guys."

"_Ha! They'd never guess that I had talked with their teachers about who would best work together and paired them up as I saw fit. If I simply coupled them up at random, then I couldn't be sure that they would get along. But this way, the students are clueless and the matches are set," _the mayor triumphantly thought to himself.

Nervously, Craig brought the cards to Mayor Hamilton. Once they were out of his hands, he darted off towards the corner, desperate to avoid any… complaints the mayor might have about the order.

Blissfully unaware of this, Mayor Hamilton grinned with glee and picked up the first two note cards. "The first pair will be… will be…" his eyebrows knitted together in confusion, "Hazel and Gill?"

"WHAT?!"

Two distinct voices screeched at the top of their lungs at the same time. Fits of fury bubbling inside her, Hazel yanked her burning eyes over towards the boy with the blond curl. Gill gave her a look with the same intensity, if not more, of the one he gave Kathrine. Neither of the two could stand the other for very long and now they had to be together for two weeks!

Hamilton was completely stumped. _"I thought Hazel was grouped with Anissa since Anissa likes Jin who doesn't go to school anymore. And Gill was supposed to be with Kathrine. What?"_

"Um, continuing on I guess," the mayor decided, "Next is Luke and Maya."

The blue-haired boy's jaw dropped, but a sigh of relief was heard from Chase. Maya, on the other hand, seemed very disappointed.

"Then, Owen and Candace."

Tyler looked ready to murder Owen. Candace looked ready to die.

"Brooke and Chase."

Chase seemed fairly happy with this pairing.

"Kathrine and Julius."

All the color drained from Kat's face as she caught a glimpse of the flamboyant jewelry maker waving at her. Hazel leaned over towards Brooke and whispered, "He's a boy?"

"Anissa and Calvin."

Both teenagers shrugged.

"Luna and Bo."

Luna burst out into a tantrum. Suddenly, everyone felt sorry for Bo. Luke even gave his cousin a comforting hand on the shoulder.

"Toby and Selena."

Selena appeared unamused as she kicked her sleeping partner.

"Tyler and Phoebe."

As Hazel's brother scrutinized the green-haired girl who seemed to be wearing clothes that she had not washed for days, he groaned. Such a fashion disaster of a person was his partner? Not good.

"And finally, Kathy and Renee as our girl group."

Renee attempted to smile sweetly at her partner, but Kathy only gave her a sinister glare and stamped her cowgirl boots.

The mayor sweat dropped as he noticed the tension in the air. "Well, those are the pairings, so I guess finish your lunch and return to class. Your schedules will be changed to suit who you're paired with tomorrow, so until then go to your normal classroom. Once school is over today, then you need to be with your buddy until eight tonight. Uh… good luck on the project!"

With that, Mayor Hamilton dashed out of the cafeteria. Something just went horribly wrong and he was going to get to the bottom of it.

As for the teenagers, most glanced at their teammate and groaned, dreading the coming days.

* * *

**Uh oh, Craig messed up and now the pairs are mixed up. How will these unlikely pairings come together to work for their grade? Will Luke ever forgive Brooke? And does Kathrine have enough compassion and strength to swallow her pride and apologize to Gill a second time? Find out in the coming chapters of "Oops Wrong High School"!**


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